Turning Tides
by Avatar Conner
Summary: (AN: This is happening. Don't try and stop me, it's going down.) Isolation is all Arno knew for the past few years. After his father's passing he made a mistake that still haunts him to this day, but now his duty has brought him to Republic City. One of the most populated places on Earth, his secret is going to be hard to keep quiet about.
1. Chapter 1 (Flowing Current)

**Chapter One**

 **Flowing Current**

 **AN: I know what you're thinking.**

 **What the fuck is this guy thinking? Is he really doing a Aquaman story? All he does is talk to fish what the hell!?**

 **I want to get a few things out of the way. Number one, he doesn't talk to fish, he commands them. Number two, between the command of all sea life, ability to breathe underwater, and his other powers? I wouldn't mind being Aquaman! Not to mention he's the king of the largest country on the planet. So yeah, I think Aquaman is pretty cool, and I don't mean Jason Mamoa Aquaman (as much of a badass bro he is) I mean comic book Aquaman….specifically New 52 Geoff Johns Aquaman because that's when he took all the crap people say about him and turned it on it's head.**

 **I've been reading DC Rebirth's story with him as well and it's almost like he's the Black Panther and Thor of DC comics. And I'll be honest, he's kind of a character I've been looking for, he's powerful but not infallible, he's strong but not OP like Superman is, and he had a deep and pretty complex world that can go almost anywhere.**

 **Now I know what your thinking. No. Batman will not be in this. Or Wonder Woman, or Flash, or Superman, or Green Lantern, I AM DONE WITH BRINGING WHOLE UNIVERSES TOGETHER. Ahem, sorry I just need to hammer that point home.**

 **Now to be honest I chose Legend of Korra for the crossover because it's a world that I'm familiar with and…well I think you'll see why it works together.**

 _Thinking_

 _'Reading/Radio'_

 **Location Change**

 **And lines like the one below this sentence represent passage of time.**

* * *

 **Kiyoshi Island**

Is island of Kiyoshi had changed since the hundred year war, the small hidden village near the center of the small, crescent shaped island had transformed into a prosperous port town. The small village that originated from within the isle had spread out into the bay of the island, docks of wood, steel, concrete and filling the mouth of the harbor like teeth. The only thing that still stood the test of time was the wooden statue of Avatar Kiyoshi in the middle of the town, the dirt path it had been built on had been paved with streetlamps lighting the way.

On the left handed side of the statue was a bar where sailors of all types of sea craft, the bartender, whom all the patrons referred to as Sully, had lived on Kiyoshi Island for the past thirty years after a extended time at sea himself. He came back with a thirst for two things, whiskey and company….good company preferably but he takes what he can get.

Sully's bar, simply named Sully's, doubled as a inn for when sailors, captains, and dockworkers needed a place to crash on dry land for a few days before heading back out into the water. Inside the tavern at this time at night there were only a few patrons and guests, one of them sat at the end of the bar next to the fish tank that took up a large portion of the back wall with the other half being a stage where entertainment played for the tables booths spread throughout the bar.

The man was young, into his early twenties with fair skin and deep blue eyes like those from the Watertribes. He was fit as well, not that he looked like one who spent their life dedicated to building their body as such but enough that he would be considered buff to most. But the most distinguished feature he held was his hair, it was a mixture of brown but also yellow like the sun itself. Blonde hair wasn't unheard of but it was not the most common of hair colors. It was darker at the roots but the length and tips were golden.

His hair wasn't too long, the length of his fingers from print to nail with the bangs nearly covering his eyes, his face also contained the save colors as his hair as a short scuff covered the skin around his mouth. "Another one Arno?" Sully asked as he walked over with a bottle of Fire Nation. Arno looked up at the bartender and nodded, looking down at his glass as Sully refilled it for him.

Arno gave him a nod of appreciation, "Thanks Sully." he said as he raised the glass up to his mouth and drank the liquid. It apparently had quite a kick to it, unfortunately Arno didn't feel it, or any drink for that matter much to his challenge. Today was the third year anniversary of when his father died, the day his secret got splashed over every paper from Kiyoshi Island to Ba Sing Sei, the day he made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. And Arno remembered this day solemnly every year the same way, coming home to Kiyoshi island to try and get hammered….which never worked, not for lack of trying but it did help dampen the headaches he received almost daily.

He remembered how the day of the funeral almost the entire Island came to pay their respects….but now they wouldn't so much as look directly at Arno. Part of him couldn't blame them, but the other part of him could only think of how isolation from everyone stung.

"You going to stay a few days Arno?" Sully asked as the young man took another sip of his drink. The son looked up at the bartender, Sully was a heavy guy but not in a bad way, he was strong enough to throw two guys half his size out of the bar and out onto the street if he needed, which on occasion did happen. His grey hair wet from around the sides of his head to the beard he wore with pride, though Arno's father always joked it all used to be on top of his head and then moved down.

The son shrugged his shoulders, his olive colored coat shifting along with him, "Maybe. I got in last night and crashed at the lighthouse, I got done with the repairs last time I was here but…." he trailed off, the damage caused to his home was minimal at best. But it did need maintenance every few months which he happily did like his father showed him.

Sully gave him a sad look, "Feels empty…doesn't it?" he asked, Arno only nodding in response. The lighthouse was his home, he was born and raised there for most his life but with his father gone it wasn't the same there. "Tai always told me that being a lighthouse keeper was both the most boring job, but also one of the most lonely." he mused.

 _Yeah….I know how that feeling._ Arno thought as he glanced up at the wall behind Sully, beside the shelves where the beer and drinks were kept was a wall full of pictures. Some of them were fishermen with large fish as trophies dangling beside them by a hook, others were of regulars who Sully put up, one of them was of him and his dad. He looked a bit like his father except for his dad's dark hair, of which he got from his mother, but she left shortly after Arno was born.

But his father was never mad about it, he never blamed her for leaving him with a son to raise all by himself. Arno couldn't exactly say the same thing but if he ever met his mother? He had some things he needed to say to her, but even more things to ask her.

The door to the bar was suddenly flung open, Sully and Aron turned and saw Pao, the head of the police, catching his breath as he made his way over. Pao was a thin man, however what he lacked in stature he made up for with his leadership, at least that's what he boasted about when someone asked. He had neatly combed black hair with grey on the sides in a grey officer's uniform, at least he usually wore that instead of the casual clothes he currently wore. "Sully! Do you have any visitors that arrived today?" he asked between breaths.

The bartender shook his head, "No they're all in for the night, why the hell are you running around this time of night?" he asked as the chief leaned on the counter to catch his breath.

"I got a call from the harbormaster, one of the ships that docked here today left a hour ago. Then I got another call saying the Unagi was sighted!" he explained, Making Sully's eyes widen. The Unagi was a giant serpent like creature that made Kiyoshi it's home, after the Hundred Year War however it migrated from the island out to the open sea in the Spring and came back at the start of Fall. It usually didn't bother boats unless they were directly in it's way, it didn't bother any boats in the harbor since the islanders set up a feeding ground on the opposite end of the island.

But with it coming back tonight and that ship out there?

That thing helped fend off the Fire Nation Navy for decades, it would tear that ship apart. As Pao continued to catch his breath he heard the door shut, he looked to the end of the bar and saw that Arno was done. Pao noticed as well, "Oh shit was that Arno!?" he exclaimed. Sully simply nodded in response, "Damnit! I do not want him out there!" he said as he turned towards the door.

"Oh will you cool it Pao?" Sully asked, making the police chief look at him with a glare.

Sully knew it was coming, it was the same speech Pao gave to Arno every time he came back home and to everyone who saw him when he was here. "Do you remember how things got after….whatever he is got out!? The United Forces shut down the port for six months!? If he get's caught again-"

"Are you serious?" Sully asked, his voice teetering on accusation, "You know that's not Arno's fault it's that idiotic professor. Arno has done nothing but help and you know it."

"We barely got any money that year because of Arno. Can't be a shipping town if the port is shut down." he fired back. Sully rolled his eyes as Pao stomped out the door to the bar. Sully frowned as Pao left, as he went to collect Arno's glass he realized that the bottle of Fire Whiskey was missing. "…Arno you asshole."

 **Kiyoshi Island, Main Road**

Arno marched down the road towards the bay of the island with a bottle of Fire Whiskey in his hand, taking the drink down his throat as he walked. _I will probably need this for what I'm about to do._ he thought as he finished the bottle and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. Upon reaching the Entrance to the port, he tossed the bottle into the garbage and made his way to the mouth of the Harbor where the numerous docks were situated. Approaching a nearby railing, Arno pulled his jacket off his shoulders and draped it over the metal, across the back of his black pants was a golden dagger in a sheath that his father had left him.

Removing his cotton shirt he placed it on the railing along with his jacket before taking his boots off and setting them in front of the other clothes. Taking a few steps back he got a running start before jumping, lunching himself high up into the air. He tilted forward and dove into the harbor, the water covering him made Arno smile before taking a deep breath in the water.

It was a huge surprise for him when he first went swimming and he didn't need to hold his breath under the water and in fact could breathe perfectly fine beneath the waves. However his father wasn't as surprised, it was another something he inherited from his mother besides his hair color. With a kick of his feet he took off through the water faster than anything within it, shooting out from the bay, Arno was out into the ocean within seconds.

Swimming was also different, he used his limbs like anyone else but it felt like the water wasn't even there and he was flying. He was faster in the sea than anything on dry land, and what's more was that he never felt the effects of the water no matter how far down he went to the bottom. To him the water felt perfect, not too hot or freezing, just perfect for swimming in without risk of staying in for too long. Arno at first was as curious as anyone as to how he was able to do these things when he was younger, but by now he simply accepted his abilities.

Which he was currently using to try and locate and stop the Unagi.

 **The Calm Gulf, South of the Fire Nation and West of the Earth Kingdom**

Korra laid back against the large polar bear dog behind her with a content smile on her face, the Avatar may have been denied training by Tenzin since he had matters to attend to in Republic City but she saw an obvious solution to the problem. Simply got to Republic City herself! Of course the White Lotus with a stick up their nether regions where completely against the idea, but she had been locked away in a compound for all her life to master the other three elements by them.

So it was about time she started deciding what she did with her own life, so she snuck out of the compound in the South Pole, found this cargo ship and convinced the captain to take her to Republic City with their shipment. The captain was a more than hesitant to begin with, however when Korra demonstrated her Avatar abilities by bending the three elements she knew in front of him and explained that she was on a journey to Republic City, he was more than willing to oblige.

Admittedly Korra felt a little guilty, using her title to get what she wanted, so she had been helping out around the ship as much as she could as means to pay for her and Naga's trip. They were still a week out from Republic City but the time was flying by if she was being honest, she was just happy to be out of the South Pole. She felt her animal companion shift beside her, laying her head in Korra's lap, much to her amusement. "Aw are you sleepy girl?" she asked in a tone fit for toddlers.

The large Polar Bear Dog breathed out through it's nose before it's ears suddenly perked up and lifted her head from her master and let out a low growl. "What's wrong girl?" Korra asked before the ship suddenly lurched to one side and Naga began barking. The Avatar stood from the floor, "Naga, down." she commanded, the canine did as she said making Korra smile, "Good girl." she praised before the ship shifted again, this time more violently. "Something's wrong." Korra realized before taking off towards the stairwell.

Upon reaching the upper deck, one of the crewmen nearly stumbled into her, "What's wrong?!" she asked as she caught the young man as he regained his balance.

"Unagi!" he shouted before rushing past her to the deck of the ship with Korra right behind him. She didn't know what exactly a Unagi was but she was sure she heard that name somewhere before, when she reached the top deck and looked up at the shadow cast over the deck from the moon, she suddenly remembered the tale of how her past life nearly bit the dust too early because he was trying to ride that thing. She also remembered Katara telling her that Aang wound up riding the beast and using it to extinguish a fire on a island.

The gigantic sea serpent was looking over the bow of the ship with a low growl, it's two long barbels reverberating from the growl and it's narrow head was filled with sharp teeth that barred at the sea craft. Korra immediately sprung into action by jumping off the ship and down towards the water where she froze a board out of the liquid and flug her arms back to propell herself away from the boat, the Unagi's head fallowing her movements.

The fin going down it's back sprung out as it dove under the water and took after Korra. The Avatar looked over her shoulder and grimaced, _Crap that thing is fast!_ he thought before abruptly changing directions away from the boat, _Maybe I can scare it off._ She thought as she felt the water waver below her before suddenly going airborne as the sea beast's head rose from the water and knocked the novice avatar off her board.

Hitting the water, Korra quickly resurfaced and drew one of her arms back and unleashed a large plume of fire at the large eel. The creature opened it's mouth in retaliation and unleashed a powerful spray of water, dosing the flames and sending Korra back under the waves. She was flung a few feet under the water, it was dark and she was dizzy from the hit, it was terrifying. When her eyes managed to adjust to the darkness she witnessed the Unagi swimming right at her!

As she readied to waterbend herself away, a small shape rammed into the side of the creature, the force sending a shockwave through the water and knocking the Unagi away. Regaining herself, Korra could made out the shape as a man, shitless in the water and looking at where the Unagi was. But what caught her attention was that the young man didn't look like he was holding his breath, however she didn't have time to question it as the Unagi was focused on him now.

 _Ok, well I got his attention!_ Arno thought as the beast lunged at him through the water, he pushed to the left to escape the creature's mouth and swam under and over into the bottom of it's jaw with a solid punch. _Don't want to hurt you big gu….girl,_ he corrected when he realized it was a female, _But if it's between roughing you up and people getting eaten? Well you're going to be hurt and hungry._ the swimmer thought as he dove down the body of the creature, circling around it's body and swimming though some of the fins on it's back.

Korra meanwhile was dumbstruck, that Unagi was gigantic, it made both her and this swimming guy the size of ants! How could he hit this thing that hard!? However she didn't sit on the issue for too long and stroked upward to the surface to get some much needed air. Taking a few breaths of fresh air, she submerged again and dove downward, using waterbending to take her into deeper depths.

Meanwhile Arno had doubled back and was making his way back up the Unagi's body, passing the dorsal fin, he reached the head of the serpent and grabbed onto the whiskers on the side's of it's face and then pulled down. The beast immediately tried to recoil but Arno's grip was like iron and he needed to make sure the Unagi didn't come back. After a good minute of struggle he finally released the whiskers. However instead of swimming away it snapped at Arno, the swimmer held his arms out and stopped the jaws from biting into him, his hands and feet stopping the jaws by holding it at the gums with all his might.

 _Ok if that didn't work, sorry in advance sweetheart._ the young man through before letting go of the lower jaw and reaching around back and grabbing the hilt of his knife with one hand as he backed off, the mouth closed around his other arm with the teeth cutting into his bicep. He winced as he drew his blade and plunged it into the lip of the Unagi, slicing through the flesh violently. Both his and Unagi's blood leaked into the water, the creature recoiled and let go of the young man's arm, a shallow cut from the sharp and powerful teeth of the creature.

Arno held his wound as the creature swam away in the opposite direction of the ship, the swimmer let out a breath as it were, running his hand through his dirty blonde locks. _Disaster adverted._ he thought thankfully as he turned towards Kiyoshi island only to see he wasn't alone in the water.

Floating a few feet away was a WaterTribe girl, _Oh shit._ Arno thought as his eyes widened.

Neither of them moved, they remained suspended in the water before Arno regained himself and darted off past her, Korra spun in the water from his spend. Turning around she saw him disappearing into the ocean depths beneath her, her first instinct was to swim after him but at his speed she doubted she would catch up to him, and she needed to get back to the ship before it got too far away.

She turned back in the direction of the ship and swam, when she reached the side she used a spout of water to launch herself up onto the deck where she was quickly swarmed by the crew and their questions.

"Where did the Unagi go?"

"Are you ok?"

"Are you insane?"

"Did you see the Aquaman?"

That last one got Korra's attention, "The what?" she asked, not missing how some of the others rolled their eyes at the question.

The sailor, the same one she ran into earlier cleared his throat, "There's this guy who's spotted all over the seas, people say he's a spirit from bottom of the ocean who helps those who sail the waters when they're in danger." he said, the myth making the others wave him off. "It's true!" he insisted, "My cousin was on a schooner fishing with his friends when a storm rolled in, Aquaman grabbed their anchor and mowed the boat to safety." he explained.

 _It does sound like that guy…_ Korra thought, but he didn't look like a spirit he looked like a normal guy. "Anything about how he looks?" she asked curiously.

The man nodded, "They say his hair is like gold. And looks strong as ten men." he replied, making Korra's eyes widen. She'd seen the guy with her own eyes and that sounded just like him. He wasn't a spirit but he had strength like she hadn't seen before, however by the lack of crew around her she could tell that not many would believe her if she told them. _I might have to ask Tenzin about this when I meet up with him_. she decided.

* * *

 **Northern End of Kiyoshi Island**

Arno woke to the rays of sunlight beaming in through his window. Rolling over in his bed he let out a groan as his legs swung over the side of the bed. It had been a solid week since his fight with the Unagi, the cut on his arm from it biting him had healed the day fallowing their battle. However what alarmed him more was the fact that someone had seen him fight underwater like that, but there hadn't been anyone from the papers or the radio who had come to Kiyoshi since then so he took that as a good sign.

Sitting up from bed he looked over at his nightstand where his dagger lay, his father had given it to him on his seventieth birthday, saying that it was a important family heirloom that was passed down to the oldest in the family. Since it was just him and his dad however that meant it went to him, _I should have asked more about it._ he thought as he picked up the blade by it's handle.

It was simple in design, there was only two parts with the golden double edged blade which angled out where it met the hilt like a diamond shaped base of the blade. The hilt was covered with a black wrapping that held firm in Arno's grip, just above where the blade met the hilt was a strange symbol, it had a triangular tip with the sides going down and curving back in themselves and ending a point before reconnecting below the tip.

Arno believed it was a sort of family crest, however he had never found any link to any family in any of the four nations. He had hundreds of questions about his life but only a few answers, and dozens of theories that ranged from a light bulb in his head to utter nonsense.

Arno brushed those thoughts aside and stood up from his bed, walking over to his dresser he pulled on a pair of pants and a grey cotton shirt. As he pulled his head through the hole there was a knocking on his door, "I'm coming." he called out as he walked out of his room in the lighthouse.

Walking out into the hall and down the stairs into the living room, he approached the door as another more quick series of knocks went off, Arno peeked through the eyehole in the door to see who was on the other side. It was Pao, with the most uncomfortable look on his face. Opening the door to his home, "Pao? What brings you all the way out here?" he asked.

The police chief sighed, "Arno, may I come in?" he asked, the blonde moved aside, letting him enter the lighthouse. The living room was fairly sparse, only a few chairs, a table, and a old radio that didn't even work anymore. The door on the other side of the house led to the tower beside the small home, the light still rotating in the early morning of the day. Pao took a seat in one of the chairs, "I think you need a second opinion on your interior décor." he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Pao. What's wrong?" Arno asked bluntly, it was no secret that Pao wasn't his biggest fan. Around the time his father died, photos of Arno using his gifts surfaced in newspapers through the world, he left home right as the United Forces closed in around Kiyoshi and performed a through investigation across the island. They closed down the port to all outsiders, and the island suffered for it, many people could barely provide for their families since their lively hoods depended on a open port. Pao was one of them.

The chief took a deep breath, "It's Ming." he said, making the blonde swimmer stiffen, Ming was Pao's daughter, as well as one Arno's old friends. They knew each other since they where children, she used to come here and swim with Arno, they even went to their high school dance together….but when he left? She refused to even try and get in contact with him, he had sent letters under a fake name but she never replied, and when he did come back home for a few days he never saw her. "She left a few months ago with a few friends to take a vacation to Republic City….and I got this letter in the mail this morning." he said, pulling a paper out of his shirt pocket and handing it to Arno.

Arno unfolded it and read the letter.

 _'Dear dad._

 _I've been thinking long and hard about this and I decided that I'm staying in Republic City. I've met some people here who have opened my eyes to the world, they want to change it for the better and I want to help usher this new age in. I promise that I'll write you every week or so, but don't worry. I have a decent job, a apartment that I can afford (with locks before you ask) and some new friends, (not just boys) to show me around the city._

 _I know this is really sudden and I've just been gone for three months but….I love Kiyoshi but here? Things are different, I see bad things happen to good people and I remember what you always said about being a bigger person and….what I'm trying to say is that I'm seeing bad things happen and I feel like I can help make a difference. Just like you do…..I promise I'll explain more when I write you next, take care of yourself._

 _I love you dad._

 _Ming'_

Arno pursed his lips together before looking at Pao, "What do you want me to do?" he asked curiously. Pao was hesitant to say anything else, the blonde's patience was beginning to wear a little thin, "Pao, I'm going to be blunt. You don't like me, so you wouldn't bring this to me unless there was something you're not telling me." he stated directly, the chief of police stiffening at the young man's words.

Arno waited for a solid minute before Pao spoke, "I called Republic City's police department this morning and asked about the address on the letter. They said it came from a busted Equalist hideout." he stated, making Arno's eyes widen. The Equalist party was a movement that had been gaining some traction in recent years with their accusations that non-benders are discriminated against by benders, Arno had heard some of the complaints and if he was honest they did have some validity to them.

However there were also rumors regarding militia like training given to their supporters, that wasn't something a peaceful movement tended to do. "I can't just up and leave but you…..Arno I may not always approve of your…..methods. But everyone here has heard the stories, you help people….and I'm asking you to help me."

The young man looked back down at the letter before sighing, "I'll head out right away, should take me a few hours to get to Republic City. I'll check the police station for her and I'll call you if I find her." he said before walking over to the coatrack beside his door and retrieving his coat and draping it around his shoulders. He saw the relived look on Pao's face as he slipped his shoes on, "Pao….like I said I know you don't like me that much but….don't hesitate to ask for anything like this, ok?" he asked, the man nodding as Arno exited the lighthouse.

His home was on the northern coast of the island, right on the tip of the isle where the land curved inward. Looking up at the pale tower and the light shining around, Arno thought back to when he was younger. He had asked his father why he lived in a lighthouse instead of being a ship captain, "Someone's gotta watch the shores right dad? What's you call it? Oh yeah, responsibility." he mused out loud with a smirk. Making his way down the dirt path which lead to the beach. It was about thirty meters from the cliff where the lighthouse was poised to the beach, the stroll took a mater minutes before reaching the water.

Pao exited the lighthouse as Arno leapt into the water, the police captain watching as his figure zoomed off towards the North beneath the water.

* * *

 **Republic City, Yue Bay**

The swim through the Calm Gulf and into northern waters had been pleasant, Arno kept bout a mile below the surface of the water, occasionally skimming down to avoid things like sharks or other predators. Not that he minded, the sea floor had some of the most beautiful views he had ever seen, entire forests of underwater plants that flowed with the currents, mountains of coral that made incredible shapes, and intricate caves that went deep into the earth.

As he neared the Yue Bay of Republic City however his swimming slowed. He couldn't just hop out of the water and onto the docks in broad daylight. The water however felt…wrong, the seawater was clean for the most part but it was almost like he had a slightly bitter taste in the back of his mouth. _Must be from the city, I wish people would try not to dump all their crap in the water, can only imagine what it's like for the fish._ he thought. Looking around the bay he saw a large emerald colored statue standing tall with it's gaze set out to the city.

Avatar Aang, one of the founders of Republic City, "Don't suppose you've seen a girl around here? About yeah tall, thin, wears her hair in a braid over her shoulder? No? Ok." he joked to himself before taking off through the water towards the city, there were a total of four rivers leading into the bay, one to the northern end of the city, one to the south, and two heading inland to the city, those two separating the city into three parts with the bulk of the metropolis in the middle section of land.

Reaching the edge of the land, he saw that the concrete seawall reached a fair ten meters above his head, thankfully there were ladders located down along the wall at multiple spots in case someone jumped in and needed a way back onto land. Climbing the rungs, he reached street level and couldn't help but stop to take in the sights.

He had traveled a great deal in the past three years but he stayed near coastline towns and stayed away from major settlements, let alone cities. The towering buildings so different from the smaller buildings he was used to seeing, the sound of a horn made him jump back a few steps as a satomobile drove in front of the curb where he was standing in front of. "Het outta the road you vagrant!" the driver shouted as he passed.

Arno shook his head, _Right. Focus. Get to the police and ask if they arrested or know anything about a Ming from Kiyoshi Island._ He reminded himself as he looked both ways down the road before crossing the street, however after about a good solid hour of walking Arno made a very important discovery…he had absolutely no idea where the hell he was going. While Arno had a good sense of direction he still had no idea where the nearest police station was located at, _Ok genius your lost in the city, now what?_ he wondered with sarcasm.

He ran a hand down his face, the stubble he had when he fought the unagi sprouting out from their roots, "Ok I might as well find some locals and ask for directions." he said as he made his way around the corner of the street. Looking down the street, he immediately stepped back when he saw that down the street talking to a elderly couple was the same girl he saw a week ago underwater!

His reaction was natural. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_ he cursed internally as he peeked out from the corner. _What the odds?_ he thought to himself, he saw this one girl a week ago in the middle of the ocean and she ends up in the same city that he's looking for Ming in. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he decided to simply wait for her to leave and then find somewhere else to ask for directions.

A simple plan…..well it was until a red supped up satomobile pulled up in front of the shop that Korra was standing at.

The man in front, wearing a expensive suit and hat in light blues, walked up the shop owner as he was polishing a phonograph. "Mr. Chung, please tell me you have my money, or else I can't guarantee I can protect your fine establishment." he said slickly as he stepped to the side, his shorter friend with a pencil mustache lighting a fire in his hand. The storeowner offered up the phonograph he had been working on, however the firebender swiped his foot downward and burned the device as the owner stumbled back. "My friend is not a music lover, give us your money or else-"

"Or else what, hoodlum?" Korra asked, the trio turning around to face her as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation for a fight.

The trio looked amongst themselves before they burst out into laughter, when their leader finally regained himself he shook his head, "Since you're clearly fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple of things. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you in a hospital." he boasted with pride in his voice as he pointed at Korra.

"You're the only one who's going to need a hospital. And for your sake? I hope there's one close by." Korra replied with as much confidence as she always had.

The trio's leader sneered at the girl, "Who do you think you are?" he asked with a growl in his voice.

Korra smirked as she cracked her kunckles in anticipation, "Why don't you come find out?" he challenged. The man with the hat quickly met her challenge, drawing out water from a pelt beneath his coat he threw out the water at her. She caught the water within her ahnd and quickly shot it back at the leader, the liquid hit his head and froze, the force making him stumble back and the sudden weight and lack of air making him stumble forward as Korra heel kicked his head and shattered the ice against the hood of their car.

The larger of the three took a step forward, changing at her as his arms readied to earthbend a slab of the ground at her, Korra stomped her foot down in front of him, causing the ground beneath him to suddenly shoot him up into the air. Korra swear she heard a swear from down the street as the large man hit a metal sign, bounced off a store's rain cover, and through a banner before crash landing in a food table. The firebender looked over at his friend with a panic before unleashing a plume of fire at Korra which she met head on, swiping the flames aside with firebending before grabbing the man's hands with her own.

She used her strength to spin him around and gain momentum before throwing him through the window of the shop they were just trying to extort. "Got an idea of who I am now?" she asked cockily as she stood over the last one.

 _I was spotted by the goddamn Avatar…great._ Arno thought with as much sarcasm as he could muster as he leaned against the corner with his arms crossed in front of him. It's not that he hadn't been seen before, but the most recognition he had received had been that of a folklore figure or some such myth. His current headache seemed to grow worse as he thought of his predicament, if the Avatar had seen him that meant there was merit to what she seen.

He did not want a repeat of what happened last time.

Before he could dwell further on this line of thought however, he felt the ground shake before a loud crash made him jump a few feet in the air. After making sure no one witnessed it, he looked around the corner to see that the triad's car had crashed into the building around his corner and the Avatar was now only a few feet away. _It's like the spirits like to screw me over._ he thought dryly before a siren screeched over their heads. Looking up, a large black airship with a gold insignia on the side floated over the street with the bottom opening up and men in metal suits dropped out in synch, slowing their decent with cables that shot out from their arms.

Arno's mind suddenly thought back to eight months ago in Chameleon Bay, and the blade that went through his thigh along with a set of glowing red eyes.

The blonde shut his eyes and pushed the memory aside as he peered out from the corner once more, just in time to nearly get trampled by a large white Polar Bear Dog with the Avatar on it's back with the police chasing after her. _Well that worked out just like I planned._ he thought as he looked back at the scene of the crash and saw one of the metalbenders on the ground with his side against the earth. Arno's legs carried him over to the officer quickly, "Sir are you ok?" he asked with concern as he went to help the bender up.

He let out a groan as Arno helped him up, "I'm fine, thank you…did you see what happened?" he asked as he regained his balance. The blonde nodded, making the man sigh, "I'll have to ask you to give a statement." he said, clearly not feeling in the best of moods after getting flanked by a giant Polar Dog or whatever that thing was.

"Of course sir. I was actually looking for the nearest police station anyway." Arno replied agreeably, taking the officer off guard.

He smiled a little at the blonde's compliance, "Guess you're in luck then. Central Station is close by, if you'll fallow me we'll get this over with soon." he said, suddenly in a pleasant mood as he led the witness in the direction of the station

 **Republic City, Central Police Station**

The station was a half hour walk from the scene of the crime and Arno gave a detailed report as he could. "-and when I looked back she was riding that Polar Bear Dog right past me." he finished explaining to Officer Shu, the policeman he helped off the ground back at the scene. The blonde shifted slightly in the seat beside Shu's desk in the bullpen. Arno was no stranger to police stations, he had on occasion been hauled in on some minor charges, most of them being fights but was easily cleared since most where in self-defense.

Shu finished typing the words out on his typewriter, "Well it seems consistent with other eyewitness reports." he stated.

"That she was trying to stop the extortion and ended up trashing the block?" Arno asked, he didn't want the Avatar to be punished for trying to do the right thing, but she had caused a good deal of collateral damage to the street.

The officer nodded, "Yeah but who'd have guessed the Avatar would pop up here of all places?" he asked as he took out the paper from the machine and folded it into the pile with the others. Turning to Arno he asked, "You mentioned you were looking for the police before, is there something else you saw today?" he asked in a joking tone.

The swimmer shook his head, "No. See, I'm from Kiyoshi Island. A old friend of mine, Ming, came here three months ago. Her dad called me today and she sent a letter saying that she decided to stay here in the city." he explained.

Shu didn't look impressed, "Hate to break it to you kid but that sort of thing happens here all the time. Girl from the country comes to the big city and decides to stay? I get about a dozen calls about it a week."

The blond nodded in understanding, "I know, I know, but her dad is the police chief on the island. He called you guys about the address he got the letter from and you told him it was from a former Equalist Hideout." he explained, causing the officer to frown. "I was wondering if she had been arrested, or if you know anything about her." he finished.

Shu rubbed his chin in contemplation, "If she was arrested she would still be here, but we've only got triads in the cages…..apart from that? We don't know much about Equalist members." he answered, Arno frowned at the information but found some comfort in the fact that Ming hadn't been arrested. "Sorry son, wish I could do more."

The blonde shook his head as he stood from his seat, "It's fine officer, you've already helped out." he said, shaking his hand before making his way back towards the entrance of the station.

 _If she's not here then she's somewhere out in the city, probably with the Equalists…..there might be a way to track her down through them but…..are they really that bad?_ he wondered to himself as he stopped to sit on a bench in the parlor of the station beside a elderly woman and a platypus bear . He had come here because there had been sinister rumors behind the Equalist movement, but really the only reason he was here was because he felt guilty. Guilty for leaving Ming, one of his oldest friends, without so much as a goodbye and not having the guts to talk with her face to face.

 _I justified me coming here because Pao is worried like any dad would be, but I'm not. They're not bad people for wanting change, and they haven't done anything bad….and let's be honest they kind of have a point._ he thought to himself as he recalled that all the triads that the Avatar had fought were all benders. And they used their gifts to extort people, if anything their existence just proved that there was some merit to what the Equalists claimed.

"Is this your Polar Bear Dog Miss?" a sudden voice asked, drawing Arno from his thoughts and making him look up at the door to the station to see who else but the Avatar?

 _…..ok I shouldn't be surprised I mean the police were chasing her._ he thought as the officer led the dog over to her owner. The Avatar smiled at her friend and rubbed the canine behind the ears, making it's tail wag as a taller man beside her went to the counter. He was draped in robes of orange and yellow colors. With a bald head that had a blue arrow going up the back of his neck and stopping at his forehead, _An Airbender…..that must be why she came to the city._ he realized.

"How much will the damages she caused total?" the monk asked the teller at the counter beside the door leading into the station. The man at the desk searched through the papers he had, when he found the correct paperwork detailing the damages that occurred on Korra' behalf he showed it to the bald man.

The way he stiffened when he read the report made Arno pursed his lips together, reaching into his pocket he felt around inside, _I probably have enough but….._ he glanced over at the Avatar, who seemed too busy putting the saddle on her animal companion. _Guy shouldn't have to pay for her._ he decided as he got up from his seat and walked over to the monk as he read over the exact costs. His hand patted the table with s shuffle of metal, "Here, it's on me." he quickly said as he came then proceeding to leave.

Tenzin looked over at the young man questionably before seeing what he left behind on the counter, in a small stack were gold coins. They were the size of a silver yuan and looked old as some of the things he saw at Air Temples, it was more than enough needed to pay for the damages. "Thank-" he began, suddenly realizing the young man had left.

Arno walked down the steps of the station, rubbing his temple to try and soothe his headache, ever since he was twelve he always had a sort of migraine present but no matter how much time passed or what he did to try and soothe them. They only time they seemed to subside a little was when he was in the water, it was a small reprieve but he took what he could get. _I should buy Sully a new bottle of Fire Nation Whiskey while I'm here, I did drain his last bottle._ he thought..

 **Four Nations of Liquor**

Finding a store that had the correct bottle he was looking for took a while since apparently the liquor was a very expensive brew that general stores didn't carry. So he had to ask around a few stores until he got the tip that he could find it at a small liquor store conveniently near the waterfront. Finding the bottle in the back of the store, Arno had to re-read the price. "No wonder Sully hasn't been talking to me, this most have cist him three months of tips." he said to himself as he took the bottle from the cabinet.

As he approached the cashier, he noticed another customer looking at a few magazines by the door. "Just this please." he asked as he placed the bottle on the counter and dug into his pocket. While he was out he had turned in the old golden coins that he collected from shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea for actual Yuans. He still had a number of gold left but not everywhere accepted Yuans. Paying for the drink, he walked past the man at the magazine stand, the customer pulling up the collar of his jacket as Arno passed him.

Stepping out onto the street he looked across the water and saw the sun beginning to set on the horizon. _I should head back to Kiyoshi. Pao will be pissed that I don't know where Ming is but at least she's not in any trouble._ he thought as he looked down at the bottle in his hand. _Ehhhh maybe I should have bought two._ he mused as he made his way to the ledge of the road.

As he was about to jump into the water however he heard a car skid to a halt on the side of the road behind him. Turning around his eyes widened at the scene in progress as the customer from inside the store was carrying the cashier over his shoulder into the back of a van! The bottle shattered against the ground as he Arno charged over to the kidnapper as he dropped the man in the van.

He turned in time for a fist to send him through the front window of the store and topple over a line shelves with the bottles inside shattering. Before the van could drive off, the blonde grabbed the underside of the rear bumper and lifted the back wheels off the ground, the tires spinning in the air and moving the satomobile to no effect. The back doors burst open with another man in the back, this one wearing a mask with green glowing eyes and a red dot in the middle of the head.

Leaping over Arno the accomplice delivered a series of quick jabs up the swimmer's leg, back and neck. It would have reduced most people to a unmoving pile. So it was fortunate that Arno was not most people, letting go with one had he swung his fist and 'backhanded the chi blocker so hard that the glass of one of their eyes cracked. Lowering the car back down to the road, he turned to the chi blocker who as trying to stand back up but was having trouble.

Arno closed in on him in a second and hoisted him up into the air by the front of their shirt, he had recognized the symbol on the accomplice's mask as the same one used by the Equalist movement. "Talk. Now." when the masked assailant remained silent Arno grimaced. "Here's what's going to happen, you're going to tell me what the hell you think you're doing to this man and you'll remain conscious, unlike your friend." he said, tilting his head slightly to the broken storefront.

"Like I'd tell a traitor like you anything!" Arno's gaze sharpened at their mention of 'traitor'.

"So you are a Equalist." the young man confirmed as the man struggled to get free of Arno's grip. "So this is what you do? Kidnap benders from their homes in the night?" he asked in a threatening voice. He suddenly felt someone grab his knife on his back, looking back he saw it was the Equalist he had knocked through the store window just before he sank the knife into the blonde's shoulder, biting back a scream he swung the equalist in his hand into his comrade, knocking them both to the ground before Arno's foot slammed into the one on top. Bending down the grab the knife, he slammed the but of his weapon into both their heads, knocking them out cold for sure.

Reaching over his shoulder his hand felt the cut on his back, he was strong, incredibly strong, but he was far from invincible. Too bad it took a reminder like a sharp object to remind him of that fact, walking to the back of the van, he inspected the storeowner and saw that he was unconscious with the only visible injury being a bruise on his neck. Walking around the side of the van he reached in through the driver's window and took the keys out, tossing them far into the bay, he proceeded to leap into the water from the street.

Diving deep into the depths of the bay, reaching the floor of the bay he swam through a perpetual forest of kelp, finding a sandy bottom he sat down with both his legs crossed. _No way I'm leaving Ming with people like that. I don't care if I have to take her kicking and screaming she can't be a part of this._ he thought as he shrugged his jacket off and laid it against the ground and doing the same with his shirt to inspect his wound. Reaching a hand back his fingers pressed into the cut to see how deep it was.

He winced as his finger sunk into the bleeding flesh, _Not that deep….will take a day or so to heal._ he reckoned. It was nowhere near the worst of injuries he had received in his life. Arno frowned and bowed his head, his dirty blonde hair flowing in the water along with his sprouting beard in front of him as a few trout swam around him, inspecting the strange visitor to their territory. Republic City was unlike anywhere he's been before, thousands of people lived here, and if he was caught using his abilities there would be no question that it'd make the news across the globe.

It'd give away where he was, and then HE would come. And with Ming here Arno knew that she would be the first person he would hurt just make him suffer.

A blood feud like his and Manta's is one not settled easily.

* * *

 **AN: So? Not bad for a Aquaman story huh? He's not the Jason Mamoa version, but he's not exactly the comic version either.**

 **Honestly this idea came a little out of left field, I've been reading the DC Rebirth Aquaman for a while now and I have to say it's really good. Now there are inspirations from the New 52's version of the character (which I've also read since it's by Geoff Johns) which is admittedly probably the best that Aquaman's been written as in years.**

 **Now as for his powers, and as for why this is rated M well…..honestly some of the subject matter that Aquaman deals with can be upped a little. I mean the first volume of the new 52 is really dark if you think about it. And I'm going to explore it a little more. I mean Aquaman has had some really dark shit happen to him, recently too.**

 **Now as for how strong Aquaman is? Well it's a little though to pin down because of comics upping and downing his powers, and even when written by Geoff Johns it was a little inconstant. He was strong enough to move a tectonic plate but he's not entirely bulletproof, I don't know exactly but I got a good picture.**

 **Also for those of you wondering what Arno's dagger looks like, check out my DeviantArt profile and you'll get a look at what a whole day of working in Inventor with only a picture of what you have in your head of what I THINK a dagger looks like will give you.**

 **Any who, obviously I didn't go deep into the origin of this guy but his tale will soon be told. Swear it.**


	2. Chapter 2 (Equality)

**Chapter Two**

 **Equality**

* * *

 **AN: The overall response from this has been….surprisingly positive. I thought I'd at least get one review saying how stupid this crossover sounded…well hey I'm not complaining, lets keep this ball rolling!**

 **Also one of my readers, awesomerebel55, made an opening to this story for me! Which actually works so well I'm making it the one to this story.**

* * *

 **(Play** **Opening Smash into Pieces- Let me be Your Superhero. Trust me it works.)**

 **Arno is floating amidst the vast empty ocean with the rays of the sun illuminating the different creatures of the sea as they surrounded him. From behind him the Unagi appeared and its eyes glowed a bright blue. Arno then propels himself forward with a boom in the water holding out his dagger in his hand. A large storm falling upon the ocean.**

 **Arno jumps out of the ocean and into a large pirate ship. As pirates begin to circle around him he sprints into action. With his golden dagger he blocked their blades and countered with a direct jab to the stomach of one of the pirates crashing into more pirates. He then jumps over another group landing behind them. Arno swipes his leg behind them bringing them to the floor.**

 **A row of spears came from behind causing Arno to dodge them and then catch them. He then used the spears to throw the pirates overboard. Just then a pair of red eyes light up from the darkness causing Arno to narrow his eyes. Arno grips his dagger in an iron grip as the storm cleared and the lights of Republic City cut through the darkness. Arno charged as an army of sharks and the Unagi followed him from behind.**

* * *

 **Sweltering Sea, East of Republic City and North of the Fire Nation.**

The ocean near the Fire Nation always felt slightly warmer compared to the rest of the world, it should have been expected really. Considering that at their deepest depths there were a large number of volcanic vents, the further down one went the more hot the water got to the point of it feeling like being boiled alive. At least that's what Arno assumed as he swam through the dense cloud of warm water from one of the vents, leaving a trail through the water

 _Ahh, refreshing._ he thought, passing over the rocky seabed below, cracks within the ground spurting out bubbles from the heat trapped deep below the surface of the earth. As he neared a ravine, he slowed to a stop on the cliffside as what he was here for emerged, a large whose size rivaled the size of large ships. It was slick and black with the exception of yellow spots and stripes, Salamander Wales were known to dwell in these boiling waters to give birth.

Arno had been staying at a inn just inside Republic City when he heard that someone had been harvesting these creatures for their oil. _Don't worry girl, I'm not here to hurt you._ he thought with a soft smile as the large creature slowly approached him. He swam under the gentle giant, his hand sliding across the slick throat before swimming around and up towards the surface of the water. With him taking his time it was a few minutes before a shape appeared on the waves above, as he got closer he realized it was two ships close together, the smaller one was a simple fishing boat while the larger one was a cargo ship.

Keeping at a safe distance away from both ships, his head emerged from the water and watched as the larger ships' ramp extended down to the smaller ship with men wearing red sailor vests from the large ship on the smaller one with spears and orbs of water at the ready. _Pirating as well as poaching._ he noticed as he submerged beneath the waves.

On the finishing boat, the owner of the ship along with the rest of his family were being held up by the Red Monsoons. A waterbender triad which was notorious for their ties to the shipping industry as well main suppliers to the Black Market, "I told you already that we don't have anything valuable, the only thing we have is our haul." The strong middle aged father said to the boarding party's leader, a thin thug wearing a beanie hat on his head along with a thin beard.

The fisherman's crew consisted of his family, being his wife, teenage daughter, and son who only came up to his waist and was clutching onto his father's leg for dear life as the half a dozen men on the ship eyed his family like a school of sharks. "No see, I'd usually be inclined to believe you. But seeing as how there's no fish out here I find that a little hard to swallow." the leader threatened before turning his eyes to the daughter, "Perhaps if your lovely daughter could…convince me otherwise-"

The next thing he knew, two of his men yelled as they were pulled down into the water, their spears clattering behind him as he turned around. On the port side of the ship, something shot out from the water into the air and the two men who had vanished seconds ago were thrown into the pair of waterbenders that were stationed on the fishing boat as well. There as a thud beside the leader and he suddenly felt something grip his neck tightly as another man screamed, the leader saw out the corner of his eye the last man had a golden blade in his shoulder.

Arno turned to the family, "Get below deck and call the coast guard for rescue on the radio." he said, the father of the family was shaken out of his shock by the young man's calm and collected tone. Ushering his family down beneath the deck of the ship, the blonde returned his attention to the Red Monsoon he had in his grasp, Is this all your men?" he asked, his glare acting as his threat to the pirate.

His answer came with a spear come hurdling down towards the two of them, throwing the boarding party's leader straight at the hull of his ship, the spear barely missed Arno's back. Looking up at the deck of the ship he saw a trio of waterbenders gather orbs of liquid before launching them at him, turning them into ice shards in midair. The blonde rolled across the deck to the pirate he had pinned with his knife, grabbing the handle with one hand and shoving him with the over, pulling the knife from the pirate and raising it to block a shard aimed at his head.

Snatching the spear that had been thrown at him he leapt straight up over fifty feet into the air. As he dropped down towards the deck of the larger ship he saw that there was a score of men on the ship. Landing in the middle of them with the spear horizontally across the back of his neck he swung the pole out in a wide arc, the blade on the end cutting at the legs of the pirates or tripping them with the pole.

Sliding his hand midway up the spear he slid his hand to grip it into a throwing position and launched it at a man who was running towards the door to the inside of the ship. The blade pinned his hand to the wall, making the man yell out in pain, "AHHHH! KILL HIM!" the man screamed at his compatriots.

Raising a dagger to deflect a spearhead he kicked his foot out into another pirate, sending him into another man by the railing. Arno turned and saw a torrent of water sent right at him, when the water hit Arno he didn't even flinch, the surrounding waterbenders eyes widened as the blonde grinned cheekily, "I'm sorry was that supposed to hurt?" he asked, unable to contain his amusement from the looks on their faces. A spear was thrust at his back, the swimmer turned back on his heel and drove his elbow at the shaft and broke it as he punched the attacker.

With the waterbenders of the crew realizing that their skills were essentially useless against the blonde, they all threw themselves at the intruder. Arno sheathed his dagger and charged at the blonde. He swung his fist and sent four of the men flying, shooting his elbow back into another's midsection. As he doubled over, Arno grabbing him by the back of his shirt and swinging him into a trio of pirates before jumping up and driing his knee into another's jaw. Rolling in midair to avoid more harpoons being thrown at him, he landed beside a heavy cable rope used to hoist up large creatures.

Deciding to use some irony, he grabbed the cable by the noose and using his strength whipped it out across the deck. The remaining men fell from the heavy cable slamming into them, the next few minutes were spent with Arno wrapping the pirates up in the cable he used to defeat them. As he tied up the last of the triad members, he hopped over the side of the ship and back down onto the fishing boat where the father had ensnared the men in one of the nets he used for fishing.

"The coast guard should be here soon, keep them below deck where they can't use water to cut the net." he instructed, noticing that the fisherman's family were all standing on the far side of the deck between Arno and the husband. He wasn't stranger to it, his abilities usually caused unease in people despite whatever good he used them for. "And….if you could? Forget you saw me." he asked before walking towards the stern of the ship.

Diving into the water, he took off beneath the waves. Minutes later the Fire Nation Coast Guard arrived to imprison the Red Monsoons on the charges of piracy and illegal whaling.

* * *

 **Republic City, Central Park**

Arno was back in Republic City later in the day, despite having been in the city for about a week searching for Ming. With nothing at all to show for it, he had overhead the mention of the Red Monsoons and thought that maybe stopping some triads would make him feel like he was at least a little useful. But he was back and he needed to face the facts, he didn't have jack shit on Ming….the Equalists on the other hand were another story.

He wasn't a detective, not by any means, but with Ming seemingly connected to the Equalists the most logical course of action would be to find a meeting or something of the sort and ask around about Ming. And while not a detective he was a outsider, so he at least was familiar with the mindset at the least. So he checked the bars in districts where the non-bender populace was the majority, Dragon Flatts, and listened.

Paying for a few people's drinks led to a few Equalists, whom after he got intoxicated enough, he asked about Ming. Out of the ten people he had asked, none of them knew her by name or description, which honestly wasn't all that surprising. Not because of how big the city was, but how large the Equalist movement was becoming. For every one of the people he had talked to, ten other Equalists would be at the same bar.

But there was one lead that seemed promising, there was a upcoming rally that was happening somewhere in the city known as The Revelation. He had heard that the location was being kept secret until the last minute, which happened to be today, and would be revealed by Equalist officials. _If I can't find anything here then I might need to start considering that she's just not a part of this._ he thought as he walked through Republic City park.

Among information about the Equalists, Arno had also heard a great deal of reasons for their movement…..and he had to admit, most people's reasoning was valid. The most popular of them being misrepresentation, Republic City was overseen by a council, none of which were elected by the citizens, all of whom were sent and chosen by each nation of the world. If anything they sounded more like delegates, what was more was that the current council were all benders, with the last non bender on the city council being councilman Sokka from the Southern Watertribe.

On top of that there were jobs only available for benders like at the power plant, the Police was called the Metalbending Police Force for crying out loud. Even the most famous sport in the world, Pro Bending, was only for benders. There was no equal representation for nonbenders, no voice for their plights, and when heard they were swept aside for glorified delegates from faraway lands.

Arno found it hard to argue with the logic.

Originally his only grievance with the group was when he saw them trying to abduct the owner of a liquor, however the next day he read the paper about the incident to see if he had been discovered and was surprised to find that the owner was in fact a triad enforcer, along with that a number of triad leaders and members had been taken the night prior. _But what is their plan? Just imprison bad benders?_ he pondered, sitting on the stone ring of a fountain, he ran a hand through his beard as he thought to himself, _They're not wrong about their problems but the way they go about it is what don't like about it._ he thought, looking down at the water of the fountain. _Then again I don't exactly have a foot on either side._

A loud, ringing sound echoed through the air and caused Arno's migraine to flare up so bad he had to cover his ears, "Nonbenders of Republic City! Amon calls you to action!" Arno looked over at the source of the noise and saw a skinny little man with a loud speaker addressing a crowd on top of a table with flyers on it and a poster of the Equalist Leader, Amon, behind him with someone sitting there ready to hand out flyers.

Approaching the table Arno feigned interest as he spoke with them, unaware of the two sets of eyes watching him, "Why did you stop?" Mako asked, stopping right behind Korra in mid stride towards the Equalist protestor when she saw the blonde man approach the table. She recognized him almost immediately, the same guy she had seen weeks ago under the water fighting against the Unagi. She and Mako had come here to interrogate the Equalist protestor about locating Mako's earth bending brother Bolin.

She quickly pulled Mako behind a nearby tree to hide, the firebender looking at her with a mixture of confusion and concern. He had never seen Korra act like this before in the time he's known her, the Avatar peeked out from around the tree as the blonde was handed a few pamphlets, "Well remember when I was telling you and Bolin about that guy I saw who fought a Unagi underwater all by himself and you guys both laughed at me?" she asked, making the Firebender's eyes widen at her implication before looking around the tree at the blonde stranger. "He's a Equalist?"

Mako shook his head, "I'm not sure…..maybe we should fallow him, see if he can't lead us to Bolin. We can always come back here later." he reasoned, the Avatar nodded in agreement as they stood in wait for the blonde man to get a good distance away. When she was sure he was out of earshot, she whistled Naga over and climbed onto her saddle with Mako behind her.

"Go on girl, after him." Korra commanded with a flick of the reigns, the white polar bear dog jogging after the water man. It didn't take Naga long to pick up on his scent, after that a hurried jog became a simple stroll through the city. As Naga fallowed the scent through the city, Korra's mind was filled with nothing but questions, most present was how could he breathe underwater? Fallowed up by how was he that strong, and then enough questions that would put Ikki to shame.

She had told Tenzin about her encounter with him but he was skeptical of what she claimed to have witnessed, and her new teammates were equally unconvinced. Naga fallowed the scent to a narrow alley that wasn't wide enough for her to enter, Korra looked back at Mako who nodded. Sliding off Naga's saddle the two entered the alley, Korra couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

Reaching a bend in the path, they both turned into a small square, with no doors to any of the buildings that made up the walls. "What the-where could he have gone?" Korra asked in bewilderment, stepping forward into the empty square with Mako right behind her.

Mako was just as baffled, "Did Naga get turned around or something?" he asked, trying to think of an explanation that at least made some sense. Mako suddenly felt and heard something land behind both him and Korra. They were both lifted up by the back of their clothes, Mako lit a flame in his hand but he and Korra were slammed into the ground, as the two of them regained what breath had been knocked out of them Arno backed away to the only entrance to the alley.

Korra turned over and readied to fight her way out only for the blonde to hold his hands up, "Easy there. I don't want to-" Korra sent a slate of earth airborne and sent it flying right into Arno's head. He shook his head with a sour look, causing Korra and Mako's eyes to widen. Rubbing the spot where he was hit, the swimmer let out a sigh, "I'm going to give you that…you done?" he asked as Korra got back up onto her feet.

"I knew it! You're the guy I saw in the water!" she shouted accusingly, suddenly making Arno glad that he had lured them to an isolated alley like this. The glare he sent at her was matched with one of her own, "What are you doing with the Equalists?" she asked. The blonde frowned, he had only picked up on them because he could hear the Avatar's polar bear dog coming a block away. He didn't know that they had been fallowing him for that long.

"I'm looking for someone." he said with simplicity. His answer causing the WaterTribe girl's eyes to lighten up. She looked at Mako who glanced at the blonde, he wasn't sure what to think of him, he was just pinned to the ground by this guy but he didn't show any other hostility towards them…..even after Korra hit his head with a slate of rock.

He nodded to Korra, "We are too. My friend's here brother was taken by Equalists last night, we're trying to find him and save him." she explained.

"And you saw me take those flyers." Arno spoke, realizing why they fallowed him. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out the flyers the man handed him and showed them to Korra and Mako, "He told me that a few these would get me inside. I didn't get it at first but-" he flipped them over and revealed a series of sketches on the back of them. "-I shuffled them around and they make a map." he explained, Korra walking forward and taking the papers from his hand and rearranging them as he described.

Mako looked over her shoulder, on the puzzle map there was a red dot that was marked, "Past few days the Equalists have been gearing up for this thing called 'The Revelation'. Don't know what it is but something that big sounds like most of the Equalists will be there." he explained as he headed down the alley from which they came. Korra, Arno and Mako emerged out the entrance with Naga waiting for her master. "Nice dog." Arno said with a small smile.

"That must be where Bolin is." Korra thought out loud.

Mako however was more focused on Arno, "Who did the they take from you?" he asked.

Arno frowned, "They didn't take anyone from me, one of my friends joined and I'm looking for her." he explained, causing the two benders' eyes to widen at him. _Yeah should have expected this._ He thought to himself.

"Your friend is a Equalist!?" the Avatar asked skeptically.

Arno however wasn't offended, "Apparently? Yes." he said before turning and starting on his way towards where the map had marked as the meeting location. Korra stomped after him with Mako and Naga behind him, "She sent a letter to her dad out of nowhere saying she decided to stay here instead of coming back. Letter came from a old Equalist meeting house." he explained.

"You don't seemed that upset that your friend is a part of a group kidnapping people." Mako replied briskly. Arno looked over his shoulder at the firebender who glared at him, "Same people who have my little brother." he added. Korra looked at Mako with a look saying 'cool it' but the firebender was not deterred by her.

Arno stopped and turned to face Mako, "Alright. That sucks, but see here's the thing. Equalists have just been taking Triads for the past few days, no innocent benders. So either your brother is the exception, or he was doing something he wasn't supposed to do." he shot back aggressively as he took a step towards Mako, who he had a good foot over. Arno saw the hard look in the firebenders eyes, he wouldn't deny that this guy had a point to what he was saying, Bolin was taking a offer from a triad and was caught up in the middle of things.

Korra stepped between them, "Enough." she stated firmly, "Bolin is a good guy, and he's my friend who just got caught up in the middle of this. We're going with or without you, got it?" she asked.

The blonde couldn't help but smirk a little, _She was a monk in a past life? Can't see that._ he thought to his own amusement before stepping to the side, "Lead the way." he offered.

Korra walked up to his side and looked at him, "What's your name?" she asked, wanting to know what to call him.

The blonde was quiet for a second, it had been a while since someone had asked for his name. "Arno."

* * *

 **Republic City, Later that Night.**

Picking up some disguises for Mako and herself, Korra led the way to the Equalist Rally. As they reached the building marked on the map, a convention hall of sorts with a doorman posted out front. The blonde swimmer peeked out from around the corner of the building down the street from the Rally, watching as Mako and Korra changed into their disguises. "You sure you don't need one?" Korra asked, placing a hat over her head to cover her wolf tails.

Arno looked back at them, "Well considering that I'm not the Avatar or a Pro Bending Player-" he trailed off, Korra nodding in understanding as she finished dressing herself in the disguise. Something her training never covered was how to deal with the fame which being the Avatar brought, the day after her announcement of her being the Avatar, her face was on every newspaper's front page. It was a little overwhelming at first but she quickly adjusted under the circumstances

"I'll go in first, wait a minute or two before fallowing." he said, Korra nodded in agreement. Arno stepped out from around the corner and walked down the street towards the convention hall, he felt the farther away from the Avatar he was the better. She hadn't asked him any questions on the way here and he intended to keep it that way for the time being, but that was because she was focused on finding her friend, the second that they found Bolin he would be gone.

Approaching the doorman, her turned to the blonde with folded arms across his massive chest, "Invitation?" he asked. Arno reaching into his coat and pulled out one of the flyers that the Equalist supporters had given him, holding it out to the man he suddenly smiled and moved aside, "Welcome brother, the Revelation awaits." he greeted cheerfully.

Arno nodded and stepped through the doorway, _Brother huh? That's not exactly the most comforting way to welcome someone you never seen before._ He thought dryly as he entered the main room where he had to stop. In front of him stood _Hundreds_ of people, _Holy fucking-this isn't a minority this is has to be like ten percent of the city's population!_ Arno thought, clearly shocked by the number of people there.

Walking along the upper railing, he settled in the corner away from prying eyes, _No way I can search this place for Ming, it'd be a needle in a haystack._ he thought to himself. Mako and Korra entered the room soon after and had a similar reaction to the crowd, "This is not part of what we were expecting." he stated to the Avatar as he walked over.

Korra swallowed a lump in her throat, they expected maybe a few dozen people not a army. "Look let's just find Bolin and your friend and-"

"Hey you." the three of them froze before turning around to see a chi blocker looking at Arno, "I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." the echoed voice said, causing Mako and Korra to stiffen up. However Arno only nodded in compliance before stepping forward, the chi blocker taking him by the arm, "Sorry blondie I got to search you. Saw the knife and we don't want any trouble." the chi blocker explained as they separated Arno from Mako and Korra.

Leading him through a door and locking it behind them, Arno readied himself to pick up and knock out the chi blocker. But before he could he did something that Arno didn't expect, he hugged him, "Arno! I can't believe you're here!" she greeted cheerfully, the blonde only needing a second to piece together who was under the mask. Removing her mask his suspicions where confirmed when he saw the warm brown eyes and matching hair that had been cut just below her chin, "You look…..hairy." Ming said amusingly.

The swimmer could only smile, "If I remember correctly you once told me that beards are what make men." he replied, thinking of when they both were in school and all the guys weren't shaving. It ended up with a bunch of patchy stubbles which Ming didn't find attractive in the slightest. She smiled up at him and it felt like the most refreshing thing in the world being able to talk to someone else like this, "It's great to see you Ming."

She smiled up at him, "So what's the water guy doing in the big city at a Equalist Rally?" she asked, walking back and leaning back up against the door of the room. They were in what was basically a front office, the window to their right showed the crowd outside as well as the stage, Ming took a glance out the window, "Don't suppouse you want to join?" she asked. Arno shook his head and she sighed, "Are you here to take me back to Kiyoshi? Because if you are-"

"I'm not." he assured upon seeing the sharp look in Ming's eyes as she began. "Your dad got your letter but when he checked the return address it was a Equalist hideout. Asked me to come here and bring you back but…." he looked out the window, apparently the announcement was beginning. "..way I see it? Your not exactly in the wrong….though the 'welcome brother' thing with the door guy wasn't really settling."

Ming pinched the bridge of her nose, "Told them we shouldn't have made Ronnie the doorman." she muttered before looking back at the blonde, "I'm a little surprised your on my side on this…would have sworn that you would jump on the defense." she admitted, standing up from the door and walking to the window. "I know that our methods are…sketchy for the time being. But it's to prove a point." she said as Arno walked up beside her and watched as the stage lit up.

On the stage was a man dressed in a similar outfit to that of what Ming wore only with a hood and white ceramic mask bearing a red circle on his forehead. Across the stage his chi blockers led a man tied up onto the stage, "Lightning Bolt Zolt, a triad boss who uses his bending to extort and intimidate nonbenders." Ming introduced. The Equalists untied him and pushed him out away from Amon.

The firebender unleashed a volley of flames at the Equalist leader which he dodged expertly as he closed in on the firebender. As Amon got closer to the firebender he suddenly unleashed a stream of lighting, where Arno expected it to at least wing Amon, the Equalist leader completely dodged the attack and trapped Zolt in a hold before bringing him down onto his knees with Amon behind him, the Equalist placed his thumb upon the lightning user's head.

The stream of electricity began to shrink down and become a short spurt of fire which soon enough died down. Zolt fell forward, recovering quickly he threw his fist out but not so much as a puff of smoke came from the attack, Arno's eyes were wide as Ming suppressed a smirk, "See that? No more people using their bending to oppress others, take it away and what else is there?" she asked. Looking over she saw that Arno had a hard look on his face, "You don't approve."

"No….I just didn't expect that." he admitted honestly, making Ming look at him with inquiry. "…..look I know what it's like to be the black sheep-" he began.

"You shouldn't though." Ming interrupted, Arno looked over and saw the downcast expression on her face, "Arno when that doctor released his findings to the world, do you know how the United Forces officers just took over the Island?" she asked, Arno bowing his head as his guilt surfaced. "I don't blame you for that." she stated firmly, her hand reaching out and finding his with a squeeze of reassurance. He looked over to see her turn herself to him, "Arno. Your special, but that doesn't mean you're a bad guy….but every one of the United Forces guys who interrogated me? They tried to convince me that you were a threat to the world." she explained, causing the blonde's eyes to widen.

"I knew that Shin's papers brought the military to Kiyoshi but….." he trailed off, he had done nothing but try and help people.

Ming released his hand, "Arno every single war in history was caused by benders. And you know why? Because they were different, take away bending and-" she was suddenly interrupted as a cloud of steam burst into the hall. "What the hell!?" she exclaimed, pulling her mask out and heading towards the door, "Look, I'm staying at the Red Dragon hotel, come find me later but for now get out of here!" she shouted before charging out the door.

As the fog seeped into the room, Arno could only assume that this was because of Korra and Mako, rescuing his brother from losing his bending. As he disappeared into the fog, all that he was left with was Ming's words and how they did ring true in a sense.

* * *

 **The next morning, Crossroads Inn.**

Arno had left the Equalist Rally soon after the event was crashed, he thought of calling Pao's father to inform him of what he had found out about Ming. But she was perfectly fine, if anything there was no real reason for him to call Pao, so he decided when next he sees her that he should ask her to call her father to help put him at ease. After finishing breakfast at the inn, he exited through the front entrance to the morning of the new day, the inn was right on the outskirts of the city with the water a fairly short stroll away across the road.

However as he finished stretching his arms out, he quickly noticed the telltale sound of a dog's panting. Looking over to the side he saw none other than Korra, along with the same airbender monk he had covered for the Avatar's damages. He immediately frowned, "Shit." he cursed upon realizing that her canine friend had probably tracked his scent through the city.

Korra jogged over as Arno waited for traffic to clear up, "Arno! I'm glad you're ok." she greeted with relief as the monk approached. Korra gestured to him as she introduced him, "Arno this is Tenzin, he's my Airbending master. Tenzin, this is Arno, he helped me and Mako find Bolin last night." she introduced as the Airbender approached them both and bowed respectfully to the blonde.

Arno nodded out of politeness, "Korra has told me…a lot about you." he said carefully, making the blonde send a glare at the Avatar before walking across the street. He did not want to be a part of any this, and more so there was no reason for him be involved in the first place.

"Don't know what she's told you but I'm not interested." he dismissed them as he continued towards the beach. Korra however was not dissuaded and stormed after him, Tenzin sighed and fallowed Korra to make sure that she wouldn't worsen the situation. When Korra returned the night prior and told him about what happened, how Amon is now capable of taking someone else's bending away as well as the reappearance of this extraordinary man, he believed her just from the look she had on her face.

However when Korra said she wanted to track Arno down and introduce him to Tenzin, he felt that he might not share the same enthusiasm as Korra did. "What do you mean your not interested!? You-" Korra stopped herself from shouting when she realized they were still in public. Instead she fallowed Arno off the sidewalk and down a concrete path leading down towards the rocky beach. "-you saw what Amon did."

Arno stopped and turned around to face them, "Yeah, I saw him take a man's bending away who used it to make other people's lives miserable. Forgive me for not shedding a tear over it." he replied was sarcasm as Korra and Tenzin stopped in front of him as well.

"Arno you must recognize how much of threat Amon is." Tenzin stated in a serious tone to the blonde as Korra looked to him.

The swimmer raised an eyebrow at him, "Says the Airbender." he pointed out, "Not sure if Korra mentioned this but so far? The Equalists have just taken away triad's bending. Her friend was there because he decided to try and get some money by working with them." he pointed out, causing Korra to glare at the swimmer despite his reasoning. Tenzin grimaced from the blonde's judgement, Arno didn't stop however, "If they had been kidnapping random benders and stripping them of their power? Then I wouldn't be defending them, but as things stand they're a group of people who see the way their being treated as unfair and are trying to do something about it."

Korra grit her teeth at him, "So your ok with some guy you don't know just deciding who should lose their bending?" she shot back.

"Basically your job right?" Arno replied sharply, causing the Avatar to recoil slightly from his words before a fire lit in her eyes. He couldn't be comparing her to Amon so casually, upon seeing that he had taken it a step too far the blonde took a deep calming breath before speaking again, "Sorry….but I'm not entirely wrong." he admitted, seemingly making the Avatar calm down somewhat as well.

Tenzin saw that the young man was only speaking his mind, but what he was saying was not putting him at ease, "Arno, I understand that this isn't black and white. But Amon has been amassing a militia, training people how to chi block." he pointed out, while Chi Blocking wasn't illegal by any means it was almost solely used against benders. Not that it couldn't be used against a non-bender, but it was the most common use for learning such a fighting style, "As you can imagine, so many people learning that can be unsettling."

 _Not to me._ he thought to himself but didn't dare speak it, the less a city councilman knew about his capabilities the better, "Or they're learning it because non benders can't exactly defend themselves from a earth, water, or fire bender." he looked over at Korra, "Your first day here the first thing you do is stop a non bender shopkeeper from being extorted by one of each of those." he stated factually. Korra's still angered expression softened slightly at his true words, "It's a matter of perspective, you're the Avatar, master of four elements." he said before drawing his attention back to the monk, "And you're the airbender councilman who wasn't even elected to his position, none on the council were and even then not a single one of you are a non bender from this city. It's a wonder how this hasn't happened sooner." he stated plainly.

Tenzin couldn't stop but take in the young man's words, every word of what he said was true and that made it sting even more. "Just leave me alone." Arno finished as he made his way down towards the beach.

As he made his way onto the rocky shore, he heard the scuttle of stones behind him as Korra persisted. Arno released a sigh of frustration, "Say what you want you're not changing my mind." he said, continuing to the water without looking back.

"You helped save that boat I was on from the Unagi." she stated, causing the blonde to stop just short of the water as it washed up against the toe of his shoe before receding back into the bay. "So why won't you help me now?" she asked.

Arno finally turned around to look at her, she wasn't as mad as she was moments ago but genuinely curious, in that moment he thought of Sully and Ming. Over the past few years they were the only ones who didn't isolate him because of what he was, or more accurately what he wasn't, "…you're the Avatar. Bridge between the spirit world and the mortal one…me? I'm some freak who can breathe underwater…..last time people found out about me?" he asked before trailing off. He glanced down at the stones covering the shore, "I couldn't go home to visit my father's grave for a year." he answered.

Korra suddenly felt a lump in her throat, she had so many questions to ask when she first saw him, but she never considered what some of the answers might be. That maybe the reason she never seen anyone like him before was because he might be the only one of his kind. "I'm…I'm sorry." she apologized. "I didn't…..I can't imagine that."

Arno pressed his lips together before looking back at Korra, "No you can't." he said before leaping back ten feet into the water, Korra watched with widened eyes as he took off beneath the surface faster than a torpedo. Leaving the Avatar on the beach, Korra made her way back towards Tenzin with a frown, only able to dwell on the loneliness which Arno must have felt.

* * *

 **One Week Later.**

After his confrontation with both Korra and Tenzin, Arno had changed where he was living from the Crossroads Inn to the opposite side of town. However, the Equalists didn't spend their week idling about, the night that Korra hand tracked him down they hijacked the radio airwaves after the city council declared Amon public enemy number one with a four to one vote. This served to only strengthen Amon's resolve along with his message. That the bending elite of the city don't care what the nonbenders wish, "They're a bunch of idiots." Ming said as she took a sip of her coffee.

Sitting opposite of her was Arno, who had opted for a simple glass of water for a drink. Coffee always seemed to worsen his consistent headache. He had heard that the symptom was similar to that of someone suffering from a hangover, only instead of eventually going away it only continued to ache long after it should have stopped. "Well four out of five of them are." he replied, taking a sip of his water.

"This is exactly why I joined. A bunch of benders represent people that they have no business overseeing because they're able to do things that we can't…present company excluded." she corrected, Arno however didn't seem phased however. Ming noticed and looked at her friend with concern, "What's wrong?"

"It's what Amon said about making the benders afraid…Ming I get wanting your voices to be heard, but that sounded like something Ozai would have said." he stated honestly. The brunette looked down at her cup in thought, she admitted that the speech Amon gave did have a threatening tone to it. "Can't exactly blame the council for getting a task force together." he added.

"But I can blame them for raiding our self defense training center." She replied spitefully, Arno could only nod at that. While he was sympathetic to the Equalist's plight with the state of the world he did not see that it was his problem since he was neither a bender or a nonbender. He had told Ming this and to his surprise she understood completely, "Sorry, just venting…..so….I called my dad last night." she began tentatively. "Honestly did not think he would use that many swear words over the phone." she added playfully.

"And?" Arno asked, wanting to know what Pao's final verdict was on the matter of her staying here in the city.

"He said that he doesn't like me not telling him in person….but he understands my decision. But I'm going to go visit him for a bit before coming back." she said contently with a soft smile which Arno mirrored. She took another drink of her coffee, "So what about you?" she asked curiously.

Arno focused on the cup of water, when he wasn't helping someone out on the water he would be searching the ocean floor for…..something. It was actually how he came across his wealth by plundering old wrecks and selling whatever valuables he found, however it wasn't that was what he set out to find in the first place. It would make sense that if there was anywhere on earth that his mother was it would be in or at the very least near the ocean, he didn't get his 'gifts' from his father obviously so she had to be the key to everything.

But he's combed the ocean floor, checked almost every shipside town, asking if they ever seen a woman with natural blonde hair. Only to be met with disappointment at every turn, "I…..don't know." he answered honestly, "I don't really have any plans…I might stick around here for a bit longer, never been to the city before now. Don't know if or when I might come back." he said, looking out to the busy street where Satomobiles drove past.

While his lifestyle until now was comparable to a nomad, he couldn't deny that Republic City had a certain allure to it. Despite however tense the situation was currently, maybe he would come back once things had settled down? When everyone works their problems out one way or another, "Well if you are staying for a while? There's this great Watertribe restaurant you should try it out, it's called Narook's Seaweed Noodlery." Ming said as she stood from her seat, Arno doing the same.

"I do like a good cup of noodles." he said with a small smile as Ming came around the table and embraced him in a hug. "It's been good seeing you Ming." he said honestly, pulling away and letting Ming smile up at him.

"You're more than welcome to visit…..you know that right?" she asked, the swimmer wasn't completely convinced. "Just come visit me, you're the most interesting thing on the island. And I mean 'thing' in a kind and loving way." she added upon seeing his eyebrow quirk up at the mention. As she walked away from the café, Arno watched his oldest friend leave, he was glad that she was ok and not locked up in some jail cell somewhere.

Leaving the café, he headed in the opposite direction as Ming towards the bay. As he made walked down the streets he noticed a few people looking at him strangely, something that he had gotten used to over the years. He knew it was his hair, blonde was such a rare natural hair color in the world, some people dyed their natural colors to imitate the golden locks but there was something about Arno's that made it apparent that it was natural. Of course it wasn't all blonde, the inner parts of his hair and beard were more light brown like his father's.

 _I need to get a haircut soon._ He thought, running a hand through his now shoulder length hair. While he did like the feeling of it long when he swam in the water he knew that it also made him look a lot more intimidating than usual…..which could be useful sometimes but didn't seem like the best look in the city. Coming to a stop near a small newspaper stand, he noticed that people were gathered around the radio on the stand's counter. Curiosity got the best of him and he listened in from a few feet away.

 _'Question for the Avatar! Amon remains at large. Why have you failed to locate him?'_ A reporter asked on the radio.

 _'You want to know why? Because Amon is hiding in the shadows like a coward._ _Amon, I challenge you to a duel! No task force, no chi blockers, just the two of us tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing, if you're man enough to face me.'_ she said before the reporters erupted with questions. Arno on the other hand was honestly stupefied, did the Avatar just call out Amon on the radio like that?

 _….on the one hand I think she has more balls than Avatar Aang ever did….but on the other, no way this will end well for her._ the swimmer thought as he continued down the street towards the docks. As he continued walking however, he kept thinking the same thing over and over, he had to do something. _I don't. This is not my fight and she brought this on herself, if the Avatar loses her bending then she….._ that did not sound right. The Avatar was an essential piece to the world order, the bridge between spirits and man, and despite however hot headed she was she shouldn't just throw it away because of sheer ego.

His pace quickened towards the water, _Ooooh Ming is going to hate me for this._

* * *

 **Avatar Aang Memorial Island, that Night.**

Korra arrived at the memorial with a good hour and half for Amon to show up, however with a hour down so far he was a no-show. Which was a relief for her for two reasons, the first one being that Aang's memorial was slightly off putting at this time of night with how the desolate island had nothing but mementoes from decades ago. She had made her way atop the museum as a result, giving herself a good bird's eye view of the small island.

Looking out towards the city, she let out a yawn. A symptom of the sleepless nights she had been experiencing for the past week, ever since The Revelation, she discontinued that line of thought as she saw something coursing through the water towards the island. Not knowing what exactly to expect she poised herself into a fighting stance as something shot out of the water and into the air, coming down and landing right before her with a 'thud' on the room. "Are. You. Nuts?!"

Korra recognized the voice, "Arno!? What are you doing here?!" she asked, the blonde running his hand up and over his face to get the hair out of his eyes. She hadn't seen him since he dove into the ocean and swam away, now for him to simply appear when she's challenged Amon?

"I'm trying to stop you from being a dumbass!" he exclaimed, disapproval clear on his face as Korra crossed her arms defiantly. "You're the Avatar and this guy can take people's bending away! How do you think that this will end!?" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the night. He knew that he was being hard but that seemed like the only thing he could do to get through to Korra.

"It'll end with Amon locked away!" she shot back, Arno was anything but convinced by her words and it only spurred her fury even more. "What do you even care!? You weren't going to help me with the Equalists before, so I stepped up!" she asked angrily with a finger pointed at the blonde.

"Maybe because you're the Avatar and we only get one of those at a time?" he asked, making Korra girt her teeth. "You shouldn't even be fighting him! Only reason he's enemy number one is because those jackasses on the council said so and you know that so why-" he stopped in mid speech. Why was Korra here? Was it pride? Frustration? Bravado? No, it was none of those. He recognized the look in her eyes, the way her pupils seemed to jitter when met with his own, "-your…..afraid of him aren't you?" he realized, his voice becoming less harsh.

"No! I'm not!" Korra roared in defense as the swimmer ran a hand over his mouth, "I am not afraid of Amon!" she insisted. Arno looked at her without the slightest hint of convincement, it only served to make Korra scoff, "Like your one to talk! You think you know everything because you don't have anyone around to tell you when your wrong!" she accused, making his eyes narrow at her. "You think your alone because your different but that's only half right, your too scared to get close to anyone!"

"So you are scared." Arno countered, when he watched Korra's jaw drop he had to fight the overwhelming urge to drill it home but it quickly died when she couldn't meet his eyes. "Korra." he began, making her glance up at him, "There is no human alive on this planet who hasn't been afraid in one point in their life…I found out I was strong when I was twelve, by putting a kid my age in a coma for a week." he revealed, making her eyes widen. "I was too scared to hug my own dad…" he added, looking down at the space between them.

A small smile tugged at his lips, "But the thing about fear, as my dad told me, is that it can be a good thing. It's how we grow, how we learn, but importantly it's how we overcome it that is the best thing that comes from it." he said, remembering how his father said those exact words to him when he himself was hugging himself into a ball on his bed while his dad held onto him for support.

The words sunk into Korra, the chiming of the clocktower caused them both to jump to the ready but proved to only be a distraction. The Avatar released a sigh of relief, "Nothing to be scared about I guess. Amon never showed." she said, looking over her shoulder to where the clock was before she heard a slash off in the distance.

Arno let the water pull him down into it's depths, the moonlight rippled through the water all the way to the bottom of the bay where he came to a stand. _Hope you get over your fear too Avatar…._ he thought to himself. However it wasn't his father's own words that were on his mind but Korra's, how he was scared to get close to anyone. While harsh….there were merit to her words, he was shunned on Kiyoshi because of what he was and to have that repeated on a global scale? The thought alone was scary to him, and the most fearful part was that it could come true at any moment, the world could discover and push him away and leave him isolated to the ocean.

 _Hmph…guess there's some wisdom under all the bravado._ He thought, finding it slightly amusing that someone like Korra of people would hit the nail on the head.

Taking off from the floor of the water, a school of fish swam over him from above. Looking up he saw a shadow pass in front of the moon, it was a small boat, just about the size of something the police would use as transport. _So much for one on-_ he began before he saw the symbol on the side of the ship, It wasn't for the Metalbending Police, it was for the Equalists. He shot up through the water but stopped just underneath the hull of the boat.

Peeking his head out from the underside he watched through the water as a familiar masked man who stepped off the boat. It was Amon, and he wasn't alone. His first and strongest instinct was to intervene, get to Korra and get her out of here, maybe she would run but part of him doubted it. But he stayed where he was, if he did help then it would be all over the papers by tomorrow morning. But was his own privacy worth possibly losing the Avatar? _Between a rock and a goddamn hard place…._

He felt the minutes go by like hours, and yet all he could think of were the words he passed down to Korra and where they came from. _The best thing about fear is overcoming it…alright dad._ he thought, reaching back and gripping his knife from it's sheath. Swimming out from under to boat he shot out of the water and onto the ground of the small isle, two Equalists standing guard jumped as he stood up. They immediately charged at him, and the next second they were thrown about twenty yards into the water, stomping his way towards the entrance of the memorial, he looked inside just as the masked man knocked out Korra.

"Step away from the Avatar." he ordered, causing the entire room full of eyes to look his way. Amon tuned his head to him, his eyes narrowing at the blonde as he strode towards him.

"It seems the Avatar isn't a woman of her word." he stated, Arno tightening his grip on his dagger, "Though one man would hardly make a difference for this confrontation." he confidently said, Arno guessing there was a smirk underneath that mask.

"Says the coward who brought a battalion." He replied evenly, he glanced at Korra, if he had taken her bending he wouldn't have addressed her as the current Avatar but the former. She still had her bending, or at the very least it was what he hoped. "I'll give you one chance, give up now and I won't fight any of you." he said, his reply being a few chuckles from the Equalist before one of them struck over his side, hitting the correct chi points but for them to have no effect on the swimmer before he swiped his dagger and cut into their shoulder, making them yell and fall they clutched their bloody wound.

The entire room was silent, witnessing Arno not being effected by chi blocking was unnerving but they still outnumbered him. As six of the twelve men charged one of them stepped in between Amon and Arno, as the latter swiped his fist out and knocked two of the Equalists aside he noticed the one between him and Amon was different than the others, having a cowl that fit over his face and goggles instead of a full mask. But what stood out where the twin kali sticks which each sparked with electricity, lifting his blade and slicing through an Equalist's arm enough to take him from the fight he elbowed another that came up from behind.

The remaining two moved in synch, one charging directly while the other attacked from the side, the one attacking directly jumped at Arno but he grabbed him out of the air and swung him into his compatriot. Holding up the last Equalist he locked eyes with Amon, "I changed my mind, I'll give you a ten second head start before I-" he stopped when he saw the glint of the blade in the Equalist's hand plunge into his chest.

The blade shattered from the impact, making the remaining Equalists' eyes widen in disbelief, "Huh…always wondered about that." Arno commented, slightly shocked that had occurred at all. He knew his skin was tough but he had been cut before, both by his own blade on accident and by someone else….but Manta he could probably guess why. The Equalist in his hand gulped, Arno promptly threw him through an exhibit and took a step forward.

Green smoke suddenly filled the room, blocking Arno's sight from the Equalists as they made their escape. Arno ignored them instead for Korra, rushing to her side he picked her up in his arms and retreated from the way he came, exiting the monument he saw as the boats that transported the Equalsts sped off across the dark water. _Well, she's not going to be happy about that._ he thought, looking down at the still unconscious Avatar in his arm.

Turning his head to Air Temple Island in the distance, he looked down at Korra, _I can't swim with her unconscious she'll drown so…..well I have always wondered how far I can go with someone else._ he decided as he began taking steps back towards the entrance to the building. A few heavy steps forward were fallowed by a leap, Arno soared through the sky over the water. _Make it, make it, make it!_ he repeated internally as he began to descend towards the rim of the Island.

Seeing that the dock seemed to be his landing point he braced himself and Korra for impact, the long stone dock stretched far out into the water but the stones cracked as soon as his feet impacted against them. Looking down at Korra he was surprised to find that she was still unconscious, _Goddamn is chi blocking that bad?_ he wondered.

"You! Stop!" Arno looked up to see five men wearing similar blue and white robes sprinting towards him.

He didn't think that Air Temple Island of all places would have guards but thankfully Tenzin landed between him and them on his glider. "Stop! He's a friend." the Airbender commanded. Looking back at Arno his face showed nothing but concern for his pupil, "Korra!" he rushed over as the swimmer lowered her to the ground just as she began to stir.

"Aang?" she asked in a daze as the airbender crouched down beside her, he either didn't hear her or did not care at the moment.

"Amon showed up with friends." Arno informed quickly, he looked down at Korra, "You still got bending?" he asked. She held up her hand and opened her palm. A flame quickly sprouted to life, putting their concerns to rest, "Ok. That's one disaster avoided." the blonde said, running a hand back through his hair before hearing a sniffle come from Korra. Looking down he saw tears begin to stream down her cheeks, "Hey, hey, it's ok, it's-" she quickly embraced him, taking him off guard entirely. Why would she cling to him of all people?

But instead of questioning it, he looked to Tenzin pleadingly, unaware as how to consol her properly. But the airbender simply focused on Korra, "….ok…..it's ok Korra just…..let it out." he finally said, placing a hand atop her head. He thought of what his father would do, how did he comfort Arno when he was in a state like this?

"You ... you were right ... I've been scared this whole time." she sobbed out, pulling away to look up at him before looking to Tenzin. "I've never felt like this before and ... and Tenzin, I don't know what to do!" she cried again before engulfing the Airbender in a hug whole Arno looked at him with questions in his eyes. However he decided to ask them later, as for now he began to stand up from the pair and turned his head towards the bay. As he took a few steps towards the end of the dock, he as about to step over the ledge when he heard Korra, 'You…..you don't need to go."

He looked back over his shoulder to see Korra wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked at Tenzin who nodded at her, his attention focused on Arno, "Your more than welcome to stay here if you like." he offered generously.

For the briefest of moments he considered the offer, but instead of replying her dropped into the water and swam off, leaving a disappointed Avatar and Airbender behind.

* * *

 **Equalist Hideout, The day after.**

Amon looked at the newspaper on the desk in front of him, his fallowers in the newspapers had done well in reporting what had happened on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Including the appearing of the strange blonde man who had shown up to rescue the Avatar, he clearly wasn't a bender otherwise he would have used it to defend himself from the Equalists, not to mention his skin was so strong a knife couldn't pierce it. However one of his fallowers did report back that a few years ago a paper was published by a scientist describing someone with similar abilities, however –

The knock at his door drew the Equalist leader from his thoughts, "Enter." he said simply, the door opened to his Lieutenant, his oldest and most trusted fallowers. Also one of his most skilled fighters, 'What is it?" he asked, knowing his second in command wouldn't come by unannounced for no reason.

"One of our men was captured." he began, Amon frowned beneath his mask, "But his captor brought him here and requested an audience with you." he added. That piqued the leader's curiosity. Standing up from his desk, he fallowed the Lt. through their base until they reached the cells where they kept the benders they captured. Passing a few of the cells a number of the men were gathered around one, the men moved aside as Amon approached the cell.

"I've heard you wanted an audience with me." Amon said, looking over their 'guest', he wore a suit that looked entirely made of metal, with the outer layer having metal plates with chain mail in a gill pattern beneath it. His arms beared heavy gauntlets which looked similar in design as to what the Metalbending police used, but strangest enough was the accessories of fins on the back of his legs and the large square shape on his back along with the oddy designed helmet beside him on the bench.

The man himself looked to hail from the water tribe with tanned skin, his head was shaved bald with the only distinguishable feature being the long scar horizontally across his nose and cheeks. His arms where crossed with impatience, "The man you encountered last night. He had blonde hair, a golden dagger about yeah long." he stated factually as he raised his hands and help up a distance between them which matched the length of the dagger that the stranger wielded.

"What if he did?" Amon asked.

"His name is Arno. I've been searching for him for months now…..tracked him though a incident in the Sweltering Sea about a week ago. Then his next sighting is here in the city stopping you." he stated with the same factual tone. Amon's eyes narrowed, it was almost possible to get from the Fire Nation to here in that time, however some of his men also reported seeing someone fitting his description at the Revelation, that was about a six days ago. There was no physical way for him to be here by then. The man stood from the bench and picked up his helmet, "I don't know what his beef is with you, don't care much if I'm honest. But I'm here to find him, and to kill him…make him suffer if I can….and the enemy of my enemy is my potential friend. I kill him, you got one less thing to worry about"

Amon considered it for a moment, someone to stop, or at the very least distract the Avatar's ally would be valuable. "And in return, what do you get?" he asked.

The man's eyes narrowed sharply, "I get revenge for my father's murder." he said plainly before raising the helmet up and setting to down on his head. It was ovular in shape with two tubes from the top connecting to the pack on his back, on the front of the helmet was two large red eyes which lit up in the darkness. "Now…..do we have a deal?"

* * *

 **AN: Oh my god it's 3 a.m. and I'm finally finished with this I can't believe it.**

 **I'm so sorry for the weird hour but honest to god this is for some reason the only time of the day when I got inspired to write. God damnit school starts for me in a week so I can't keep doing this particular ritual, thankfully I'll have more than enough time between classes to do writing like this.**

 **Now then, Manta's costume traditionally in the comics is different than this one, there is a reason for that however and it'll be explained.**

 **Also I found this one person who did this entire timeline of Book 1 for LoK and it's super helpful, I'll look them up later and give them a shoutout in the next chapter I promise.**

 **Now for the explanations, Aquaman has been shown to leap tall buildings in a single bound like supes used to do, and in fact a few jumps in DC Rebirth had him cover like 30 miles in a number of minutes. The reason he was surprised when the knife broke is because who wants to see how durable they are by stabbing themselves with something…anyone who raises their hand should seek professional help immediately.**

 **AS for how durable Aquaman is….well that's actually very vague if not inconsistent. He can duke it out with superman but he's also not bulletproof so fuck it I guess?**

 **Anyway, I'm tired, hungry, and have another fanfic to work on. Until then everyone.**


	3. Chapter 3 (Thicker Than Water)

**Thicker Than Water**

* * *

 **(Play Opening Smash into Pieces- Let me be Your Superhero.)**

 **Arno is floating amidst the vast empty ocean with the rays of the sun illuminating the different creatures of the sea as they surrounded him. From behind him the Unagi appeared and its eyes glowed a bright blue. Arno then propels himself forward with a boom in the water holding out his dagger in his hand. A large storm falling upon the ocean.**

 **Arno jumps out of the ocean and into a large pirate ship. As pirates begin to circle around him he sprints into action. With his golden dagger he blocked their blades and countered with a direct jab to the stomach of one of the pirates crashing into more pirates. He then jumps over another group landing behind them. Arno swipes his leg behind them bringing them to the floor.**

 **A row of spears came from behind causing Arno to dodge them and then catch them. He then used the spears to throw the pirates overboard. Just then a pair of red eyes light up from the darkness causing Arno to narrow his eyes. Arno grips his dagger in an iron grip as the storm cleared and the lights of Republic City cut through the darkness. Arno charged as an army of sharks and the Unagi followed him from behind.**

* * *

The entire city was abuzz with the outcome to Avatar Korra's challenge to Amon, the fact that both Amon had unfairly met the Avatar with a entire squad of Chi Blockers and that someone who was strong enough for a dagger to shatter like glass against their skin had arrived to save the Avatar were newsworthy in their own rights. So it was no surprise when Arno got a copy of the paper, a artist's rendering of his face was on the front. Thankfully it was didn't look much like him. The hair was too long, his hair was too dark, and if he was reading it correctly he apparently had a hook on his hand.

However Arno was not put at ease by this, for one thing Amon knew about him now so whatever element of surprise he once held was now thoroughly destroyed. Looking up at the sky as small snowflakes fluttered down he let out a sign, _I'm not completely exposed….at least not yet._ he thought with a frown, looking out across the water towards Air Temple Island. Korra and Tenzin both offered him a place in their home, but he was more than hesitant to accept it.

It wasn't that he didn't trust them, they both had more than ample opportunity to inform the world about him but they didn't. And what's more is that not once did they ever command or tell him to do something, they only offered him the opportunity instead of deciding it for him. But on the other side of the coin, Manta was still out there in the world and him staying at the island would only paint a target on it even more than it already did with the Equalists. It was why he didn't stay in one place for too long and instead lived a life more fitting a Nomad, if he settled somewhere then it would only be a matter of time before Manta came for him.

Which brought him to a crossroads of sorts, he was already involved with what was happening here in Republic City and even though her understood the Equalist's plight he didn't approve of their methods entirely. Amon taking Korra's bending would send the world spiraling, she was a key part of the way the world worked and taking her out of that would cause who knows what. However he also was here far longer than he had been on any other settlement near the water, Manta was bound to show up sooner or later and with him who knows who could suffer or die because of him.

Glancing down at the water, he dared for Manta to simply spring out and fight him so they could simply be done with the confrontation. It would end with one or both of them too injured to continue and retreat, it was almost like two animals fighting for territory across the ocean and the loser would go back to lick their wounds. And it was a cycle that was going to keep repeating itself until ether himself, Manta, or the both of them were dead.

Dramatic as though it may sound it was the truth, and it was all due to the fact that one dark night, Arno acted with nothing but rage and took Manta's father from him forever. In a strange way the experience might have given him one of his most valuable lessons, there were consequences for any action despite right or wrong. _And what are the consequences for my staying here? I bring Manta to the city, we fight and innocents might die. Or do I leave now, let Korra solve this problem and simply move on…should I move on?_ he asked himself.

Korra and Tenzin where some of the first people in three years who had been kind to him despite knowing what he can do. However the one thing that would answer all these questions was simple…..what did he want?

 **Republic City, Air Temple Island Transfer Station**

Today had been a great day for Korra, she had taken tome away from Tarrlock's Task Force so she could bring some much needed focus to her Pro Bending career. While the councilman wasn't in agreement she honestly didn't put much value in his opinion. After a long talk with Tenzin the day after Amon met her on Air Temple Island and they she came to the conclusion that some time away from dealing with Equalists would be good for her.

As she approached the dock where the small ferry to the island would arrive, she sat down on the bench to await the ferry to pick her up. The White Lotus could be stingy when it came to times but if worst came to worse and she missed a boat she could simply swim to the island with Waterbending. When she heard a splash in the water, she turned her head as fast as she could to see Arno stand up on the dock, "Hey…." he greeted, taken off guard by the large smile that grew across Korra's cheeks.

"Arno! I haven't seen you since….well…you know." she said, her smile shrinking for a second while she looked away, recalling the last time he saw her. She heard him approach her before she felt his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him and her smile returned, "So…..have you reconsidered my offer? Tenzin has more than enough rooms on the Island." she said, extending the offer once again, only serving to spur Arno's conflict even more.

"Yeah I have…..look Korra, I appreciate it. But it's just not safe." he said, making Korra's smile disappear. "I want to but…..I have a….enemy. And with what the papers have published it's only a matter of time before he tracks me down." he explained.

The Avatar wouldn't have it, "Then come to the island with me! We have White Lotus guards there, they can stop whoever this guy is." she implored, Arno however wasn't fazed by the solution. Korra released a disappointed sigh, "I know I can't stop you….but at least let my try to help you. I owe you that much at least." she offered, refuing to simply carry on while Arno had a problem.

The blonde thought her proposition over, it hadn't occurred to him that Korra might be able to assist him with dealing with Manta. But with Korra backing him up, it might be enough to end this feud between them and lock Manta away forever, "….alright." he answered after a moment's deliberation, causing the Avatar to smile at him once again. "But I have to tell you the whole story, it isn't right if you just agree to help me." he added as a ferry approached the dock.

Korra raised her hand with her thumb pointing over her shoulder, "Well then how about we discuss this back on the island?" she asked, not being subtle with her goading whatsoever. Arno rolled his eyes with a amused smirk as he fallowed Korra onto the ferry where a White Lotus guard awaited them, piloting the small ship that was only slightly bigger than one of those new speedboats. Reaching the island in a few minutes, Arno couldn't stop thinking that this was a mistake he was making in coming to the island. Him getting close would only give Manta a target to hit…Korra was the Avatar but she wasn't experienced as far as he knew. Manta was trained, dangerous, and had nothing to loose and all three of those made him deadly.

When they reached the island, Korra excitedly led the way up the long flight of stairs which led to the Island's main plaza, the buildings all held a traditional design to them with tiled roof. Korra opened the door to the home and entered in front of Arno, leading him through the house the swimmer couldn't help the memories of his own home at the lighthouse. Soon however they approached a cracked open door which Korra slid apart, it was a small office where Tenzin was stationed behind his desk where he was reading over a scroll. He looked up from his scroll and saw Korra wasn't alone, "Arno! What a surprise." he greeted warmly as they both entered the office and closed the door behind the both of them the blonde took a seat in front of Tenzin.

"Korra's tenacious." he replied simply, making the airbender glance over at his pupil, the Avatar rubbing the back of her head sheepishly in response. Tenzin let out a tired sigh, knowing full well that Korra could be persuasive by means of persistence, "I'm not staying here but…..if you two are determined to help me? Then you should both know everything beforehand." he said, gaining both their interest immediately. Despite their welcoming attitudes they both didn't know much about Arno personally, Korra knew more about Tahno than she did about their blonde friend and that fact alone made her skin crawl a little.

Arno took a deep breath before beginning, "I was born on Kiyoshi Island. My dad was a lighthouse keeper, lived on land and water for most his life. He wasn't a bender, but he would always say that it didn't mater what benders can do but what they should do." he said, smiling a little bit at the memory of his father. He always found comfort with him, "It wasn't always easy, but we made it work and we both had a lot of happy years." he said with nothing but fondness in his voice.

Korra remembered how he said he couldn't even visit his own father's grave when she and Tenzin last tried to talk with him. "What about your mother?" she asked curiously.

Arno's soft smile instantly vanished, he didn't scowl but Tenzin could see his shoulder tense at the mention. "I….never knew her. She left me with dad a few months after I was born…and my dad….he was normal. He couldn't do the things I can do so…" he trailed off. It didn't take a genius to see where he was leading, "My dad didn't talk about her much until I got older, and I started asking some questions, but he answered them….as far fetched as they sounded." he added with a mutter.

Tenzin pressed his lips together as he choose his next words carefully, "I imagine it was difficult for him to talk about." he said simply and sympathetically.

Arno nodded, "It could be. Yeah…when I was thirteen I started to become….different." he said the word with a tired voice as he looked at his hands in his lap. "I could breathe underwater, I didn't know how but one day I was just swimming near the lighthouse and I didn't need to come up for air." he let out a short laugh, "My dad freaked out, dove in after me and found me playing in the sand under the waves without a care in the world." he remembered fondly. His tone became hard for the next part, "Me and my dad eventually found this guy, Doctor Shin. A marine biologist, guy who studies anything related to the water." he explained once seeing the strange look Korra had.

"He helped you with your abilities." Tenzin guessed, Arno nodded in confirmation.

"We had a deal that he could study me as long as he helped me learn to control myself as I changed more and more. I could swim to the bottom of the ocean without any pressure crushing me, bend steel with my bare hands, and I'm apparently durable enough to take a knife to my skin." he added, Shin of course never testing how durable his skin was to blades or any such methods of harm. He would be at Shin's house for hours testing himself to see what he could do, he once spent a full day in his pool to see if he just held his breath instead of breathed in water as well.

Arno crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Then the day I graduated high school, Shin asks me and my dad if he can publish his findings about me to the world." he began. "My dad instantly said no, but me and Shin both talked him into at least hearing him out later…..dad must have had second thoughts because he took all of Shin's research and threw it out to sea." he said, making both Korra and Tenzin's eyes widen. Arno held up his hands, "Hey I never said he was perfect."

"Still though that is kind of harsh." Korra muttered.

Arno…..didn't disagree, "Shin was desperate for proof that I existed. So he hired this guy to get a blood sample of me." he said, causing both their eyes to widen once again. "The guy broke into my place but I was out at the time with a friend. When I got back home, he was fighting my dad." he said, frowning at the memory of opening the door to see Manta over his father, "I put him through the wall but my dad was in bad shape…..took him to the hospital but he didn't make it." he said simply.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I was…..so angry…..I just wanted revenge….and I got it…..at least I thought I did." he said, Korra looking at him with a nervous expression while Tenzin was more harder to read. "I tracked the guy to his ship, I was looking for him when I got hit in the back of my head by a oar. I turned around…..and I snapped his neck." he admitted darkly, Korra's eyes broadening once again. "It wasn't him….it was his own dad…he saw me do it too…..and he vowed to make me pay." he finished.

To say Korra was shocked would be a understatement, she would never have guessed that Arno would have killed someone. But given what happened she can't exactly say she wouldn't do the same thing, her mother and father were two of the most important people in the world to her. And if someone took one or both of them away from her she couldn't tell what she would do, "Arno….I'm so sorry…."

"Korra my dad died from heart failure. Not what Manta did…I acted without any consideration and because of it I made the worst enemy of my life. It taught me that every action, no matter what intention can have severe consequences." he stated bluntly, taking Korra aback momentarily as Tenzin remained quiet. "Shin published his findings the next day in the papers, I had to leave town before the United Forces showed up to look into it." he finished.

Tenzin recalled his brother telling him something similar in a letter he sent but at the time he thought it was just his brother being…..Bumi. "Arno." the blonde looked at the master airbender, "While what happened is….tragic, you were a young man who was not thinking clearly after losing the only family you known. The fact that you feel guilty about it now and learned from it only shows me that you are not the same man who took a life, but you respect it now." he said, the blonde nodded.

"But one thing I'm a little curious about." they both turned to Korra, "You think your mom is like you right? So have you tried looking for her?" she asked.

Arno nodded, "Yeah I have….it was the last thing my dad asked me to do." he replied with a unimpressed expression. "He told she's from…..Atlantis." he said begrudgingly. Korra and Tenzin both shared a skeptical look, Atlantis was a fabled kingdom that once stood proudly in the ocean which was famously, or infamously, known for their study of both science and more mystical side of the world. It was told to be a paradise, which had sunken into the sea and never to be seen again. "I don't know if he was serious or it was the pain meds the doctors had him on but I didn't really believe it…..but I have been searching the sea floor." he admitted.

Korra looked skeptical to say the very least, but Tenzin seemed to be taking his words seriously. Arno couldn't blame them really, Atlantis was a myth at best but he could see how his dad would come to a conclusion such as that. The blonde stood from his seat, "Listen I understand that I gave you both a lot to think about, but the fact of the matter is I can't stay on the island….I'm sorry." he apologized.

Korra shook her head, "It's ok, I'm just glad you could open up to us." she said honestly with a small smile. Tenzin nodded in agreement to the Avatar, "And the offer still stans."

The blonde shook his head, "No, besides I got a room at a hotel that's near the edge of the city. I'm fine there." he assured, putting their concerns to rest. Tenzin nodded in understanding, bidding the Airbender farewell he fallowed Korra back through the house.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Equalist Base**

"So this Arno, he is not human?" Amon asked with interest as the man known as Manta sat across from him in his office. His Lt was at the Equalist leader's side, though what the stranger said interested Amon he still felt the need for caution. And given that Manta had a vast array of armaments on his person, it was a safeguard that was warranted.

Manta was busy sharpening a blade on a whetstone, "No, if the breathing underwater wasn't evidence enough he also is strong enough to throw a satomobile without much strain, have a small building fall on him without slowing him down, or be crushed by water pressure with how deep he swims." he exemplified, inspecting the blade he was sharpening before placing it back into the sheathe on his ankle. "Your chi blocking is ineffective because of how dense his skin is, most blades can't cut his skin unless they're made of platinum. Anything else will just leave a scratch at best." he informed, recalling to their first encounter where she tired stabbing him with a simple gutting knife only of it to break, he was positive he didn't even notice.

Amon's mask made it impossible to read his facial expression but Manta noticed the tensing on his hand, "To you, he's a problem. One I'll gladly take care of." he proposed. Amon was silent as he considered the option, the Avatar was always part of his plans to spread Equality across the world but this Arno person was obviously never a consideration. A being who could possibly match the Avatar but not be a bender, he would have been a great addition to the movement.

"What would you require?" he asked finally.

Manta smirked for the first time since arriving, "Nothing at all except let me tag along with you on your next mission. Arno will show up as soon as there's trouble near or on the water." he said confidently, the Lieutenant gave him a skeptical look but remained silent as Amon let out a sound of contemplation. "I'm not asking for membership or even to know what the entire plan is, all I'm here to do is make Arno suffer. And your success would only hurt him more, therefore I have no reason to misuse your trust." he reasoned.

Amon was quiet for a moment before he stood, "I agree…..our next target is the Pro Bending arena the night of the Finals. The Avatar will be there on one of the teams but she isn't the target, she'll be subdued beneath the stadium while I address the city and strip the Wolfbats of their bending. Arno is sure to show up, don't let him interfere." he said, a sly smile crossing Manta's features.

* * *

 **Republic City, Day of the Pro Bending Finals**

Amon's threat to the Pro Bending arena as issued once again across the hijacked radio waves, threatening that if the Pro Bending Final was not postponed that the Equalists would retaliate. Arno knew it was no coincidence that Korra and her team happened made it to the finals, and from what he could gather abut Korra she seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't let anyone get in her way despite whatever danger it posed to her or others. So he opted to try and convince her that not attending would be best for everyone.

It was unfortunate however since she convinced the city council to keep the stadium open despite the warning of the attack. "Korra your playing right into his hands, he wants you there." he said calmly as he fallowed Korra towards the stadium. The entire place was already crawling with Republic City Police, airships patrolled the sky while a small number of boats circled around the building from the harbor.

She looked over her shoulder at Arno, "Look I understand you're worried but look at all this! Amon would have to be insane to show up here." she boasted, gesturing around to the surrounding police presence. As they reached the doors of the stadium, Arno was stopped by one of the guards, "It's ok he's with me." Korra assured the policeman, he gave the blonde a critical look before stepping aside and letting him enter with Korra. "See? No way Amon is getting in here."

Arno shook his head, "Korra that's not the point, his goal isn't to just show up here just to show he can do it." he said, Korra giving him a curious look. The blonde sighed, "I know that you think your doing the right thing but if Amon does somehow to get in how many people are going to be put in danger because of it?" he asked. That gave Korra pause for a moment but she shook her head, she knew that Lin was on the job and she was Toph Bei-Fong's daughter. If anyone could ensure safety it was her.

"Look your worried, but with you and me here? Everyone should be ok." she reasoned, Arno opened his mouth to counter but for the first time since he met her, Korra actually had a fair argument. With the both of them there, along with the police it was doubtful that if something were to occur that it would actually succeed. When he didn't retort, the Avatar's grinned in victory, "Look just go grab a seat, watch the game and have fun for once in your life."

"I have fun." he protested.

"Uh huh." Korra said with a roll of her eyes as she went off to the locker room to change, leaving Arno out in the hallway. The blonde wasn't entirely as convicted as Korra but she did have a point, the problem was it was just one point and she was basing all her hopes on it. Walking away from the locker room he wandered around the stadium, he and his dad would used to listen to the Pro Bending matches on the radio back on Kiyoshi, but he never took the time to actually see one.

 _I can have fun….gonna have some right now._ he decided as he decided to search for a food vendor and grab some food before the match started. Just because he wasn't a bender didn't mean he couldn't enjoy a good sport, something he was accustomed to growing up. He once mused about joining the swim team but his father didn't find it as funny as he did, the thought did cross his mind more than once, using his abilities for his own gain.

But his dad taught him better than that, so he didn't try to join the swim team but instead cheered on from the sidelines. _Wish I could have brought him here….would have lost his mind._ the blonde mused to himself with a smile as he took his seat below the radio booth with a cup of noodles. He noticed a few people give him a unpleasant look but Arno couldn't exactly blame them, with his messy blonde hair that was down to his shoulders by now, his more defined beard, not to mention the fact that he must smell like the bay.

He looked homeless, something the he was well aware of, a shave and a haircut though would change that instantly….except for the smell of the bay, that wasn't going away so easily. Slurping up his food, his eyes fallowed a few of police officers as they patrolled up and down the isles and searched any empty seats that they came across. Korra was right about them being thorough, they were leaving no stone unturned as far as he could see.

But he still wasn't at ease as Korra was, he had let his guard down before after his and Manta's first fight. He thought that with the loss of his father would make Manta rethink his life like Arno had himself, but instead of peace he was faced with a mortal enemy that continued to hunt him to this day. Which is why the fact that Manta had yet to challenge him was so bizzare, he had been in Republic City longer than he had anywhere else before him being outed and there was still no altercation between him and Manta.

It was like a calm before a storm, and each passing day the storm would only worsen.

The lights dimmed down and spotlights from the rafters focused on the stage in the center of the stadium. Below the arena was water for when the players where knocked off so they wouldn't be hurt, it was a safe but from what Arno understood it wasn't entirely painless as being hit into the water from that height? Well there was a reason people can get killed by a tsunami, but he never experienced anything such as that.

Korra's team, the Fire Ferrets, where introduced first with them waving into the crowd as their walkway extended out to the central ring. Arno had no doubt that Korra had told Mako and Bolin about him and his bizarre origin, but after the papers published whatever they knew about him he wasn't worried about it. In fact ever since his information was published he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of….relief, he didn't nee to hide himself anymore and in a way it was thanks to Korra's stubbornness.

He clapped along with the crowd as the Fir Ferrets stepped onto the arena, their small and actual Fire Ferret preforming a cute trick, much to Bolin's enthusiasm. The announcer introduced the other team's introduction was…Arno would say flashy but that seemed an understatement.

Emerging from the darkness and smoke was the Wolfbats, wearing apropos costumes with masks and wings as they were introduced with a howl for good measure. As they reached the stage, they tossed their costumes into the crowd. The leader of the Wolfbats, Tahnno he believed his name was, looked like a eel. The smarmy look on his face, a flashy haircut, but Arno reminded himself that he was one to talk.

The match kicked off right away with both teams going on the offensive, it was apparent right away that the two teams seemed equally matched in terms of skill. However that balance was suddenly upset when one of the Fire Ferrets was frozen in place with water keeping them in their spot while the Wolfbats attacked. When the referee didn't call the Wolfbats out after another questionable play, Arno frowned in realization.

The opposing team were cheating, most likely through bribery since the referee hadn't spoken out against him. When the entirety of the Fire Ferrets were knocked over the side, he honestly thought the match was over, however he was surprised to see Korra grab onto Mako with one hand on the ledge and the other grabbing his collar. Using her upper body strength she threw Mako back up into the ring where he landed a firebending attack at the Wolfbats just as the buzzer rang, the Wolfbats score a point but the Fire Ferrets are still in the game.

As deplorable as the actions of the opposite team was, he saw that it could serve a purpose to Korra. From talking with her it was obvious that she had been sheltered for most of her life, she saw things as Black and White, right and wrong, but that wasn't how the world worked. It wasn't always fair, and this was a good way to show that to her, Arno had found that out already, but the trick was to never sink to that level.

 _No matter how hard the world pushes you down, you need to push back. But not too much, else you become what you hate._ He thought, thinking back to the words his father bestowed onto him. Granted it was a harsh lesson but one that needed to be learned, as the second match started he noticed one of the people in the row in front of him fallow one of the metalbending officers, grabbing his bag of popcorn tightly in response.

Arno raised a questionable brow, _Ok the food's not that bad but-_ he thought before he suddenly realized something. On his way into the stadium he wasn't searched for anything, at first he considered it was just that Korra vouched for him. But the more he thought about it the more it made him wonder….what would be the point? Metalbender armor is tough, knives and other weapons are practically useless against it since it's durable enough to stop cuts and absorb blunt force.

And the people filed into the stands so quickly, too fast for if they were being searched. His first concern was a explosive but even that would look suspicious without a search needed. Too big and clunky, _Can't be a weapon either, what would even work against them?_ he wondered to himself before someone sat down beside him. He didn't pay them any mind as he was too absorbed in his thoughts, missing how the second round ended in a tie and needed to be decided with a showdown between the waterbenders on each team.

He did catch Korra send a jet of water upside Tahno's head though.

 _Oooof he's pissed._ Arno noticed before suddenly realizing he wasn't alone. his face hardened as he realized who was sitting beside him. "Manta."

"Arno. Surprised that you've been sticking around here for so long." Manta commented casually. Arno glared at his enemy, he now knew that it was mistake staying here in the city. His first instinct was to clobber him but that would only wind up with people dead because he was brash, Manta hadn't attacked him yet and there had to be a reason for it

"We don't need to do this." Arno began, Manta released a tired sigh. The blonde did this every time before, during, or after a fight. He'd try to talk him out of this, stop his vengeance he wanted for the death of his father. But it was futile to say the least, Manta made this clear with a blade extending out from beneath his trench coat's sleeve and poking Arno in the side, not enough to break the skin but enough for him to stop speaking.

"We don't need to, but I want to." he stated, "Now just sit back and watch before I impale the people two rows down from us." he threatened in a even and calm voice. An there they sat, watching as the match progressed with the Wolfbats continuing to cheat while the Fire Ferrets kept fighting back fairly. As the match continued, Manta let ouy a hum, "Funny isn't it? Even though the Avatar and her friends know the game is fixed, they're still giving it their best….almost like you and me." he noticed.

Arno felt his teeth scrape against each other as he fought the urge to say something, "See you have gifts, who knows why or where from but I couldn't care less. Me? I'm a regular guy, there's nothing real special about me." he said honestly, "I mean I have skills, intelligence, probably more than the Avatar does if we're being honest, but nothing she couldn't reach if she tried." he said as Tahno and the Earthbender on his team combined their elements, crushing up earth disks and slipping it into the water, "But you know what the difference between me and her is?" Manta asked, Arno took his eyes off the match and locked them with Manta as he smirked.

"I can handle the cheating. You knock me around as much as you want, I'll come back ready for the next fight. You try and blind me, I learn to fight without eyes." he said, the failed attempt that Arno made visible as the scar on Manta's face. "Her though? She gets knocked down-" the water and earth hit the Fire Frets in the heads, a illegal move which sent the trio out of the ring and into the water, "-and she won't get back at it, she won't get back up and take what's her's. She'll walk away, pretend to be the bigger person. Not me."

Arno suddenly felt a cutting pain in his side, Manta's dagger had imbedded into his side and his other one was already drawn in his hand. Plunging it towards Arno he raised his arm and blocked Manta's arm, holding off the second blade from piercing his shoulder and striking Manta with his other hand, knocking him across the isle, giving him the chance to rip the blade out from his side just as the Equalists sprang into action.

Arno saw one of the nearby Metalbenders fall with sparks of electricity cascading around them, he sprung out of his seat to help but the sharp pain slicing across his back made him falter. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Manta shrug off the coat, his diving suit hidden beneath the large coat. Arno drew his dagger from it's sheath and stood before Manta as he held up his own pair of short blades, they charged at each other a second later.

Arno was immediately put on the defensive, parrying and dodging the blades as he was pushed back down towards the railing. When Manta thrust one of his blades forward, Arno grabbed his wrist and raised the arm up into the air and twisted Manta around and slashing his blade across Manta's side before flinging him out into the drink. The archenemy twisted in midair and raised his arm, a cable with a barbed tip shot out from his gauntlet and pierced Arno's shoulder before retracting.

Arno flew into Manta, tackling him into the water, if Arno just kept him beneath the water for a few minutes then he could just drown Manta and be done with this. Without his helmet he couldn't breathe underwater like Arno, so the blonde gripped the line and dove deep into the Water with Manta's oxygen slowly leaking out through the bubbles he made. Manta quickly however and sliced the cable with one of his blades and retreated back up towards the surface.

Arno collided with him in the water, his fist slamming into Manta's stomach in a attempt to empty his lungs quicker. Manta slashed at Arno's face with his dagger but his movements were slightly slower in the water and the swimmer easily dodged the blade, Manta using the break in the attack to retreat back to the surface, Arno began to swim after him but stopped in mid kick, _The Equalists, he must be working with them. Which means Korra-_

He looked across the water to see Korra and her teammates being tied up at one of the ring's support beams. His first instinct was to help them but the threat of Manta being here he knew that everyone in the entire stadium was in danger of getting hurt. _Take out Manta first, then rescue Korra._ he decided, swimming towards where Manta had surfaced. Bursting out from the water he landed on a small dock where a corridor for the employees was open, water soaked the ground leading into the corridor, Arno sprinted down the hall after Manta.

This was obviously a trap, but he couldn't let Manta go.

His sprint eventually slowed into a jog through down the tunnel and down some stairs to where a large number of pipes were. The metal tubes lined the wall and ceiling with some diving the large room into isles, _This must be where they divert water throughout the stadium._ Arno deducted upon hearing the passing water within the pipes. He proceeded carefully, knife drawn at the ready for Manta's next attack.

His footsteps echoed across the room, Manta was lying in wait for Arno and with how the pipes went throughout the room he was forced to fallow the same way Manta must have gone less he wanted to force his way through and do untold amounts of damage. As the thought crossed his mind, he heard a _pfft_ of air go off and he immediately backstepped as a harpoon shot out from between he large pipes to his left.

He twisted his head around, scanning where the shot came from through the pipes, Manta knew that he couldn't directly take on Arno with his strength so he tended to rely on planning as well as equipment he made himself. _Alright, subtlety is out._ he decided before taking a step back and charging through the pipe! The metal bent and broke as Arno charged towards the set of glowing red eyes.

"Oh Shit." Manta said plainly before Arno rammed him back against a wall, he reached for his blade but Arno grabbed him by the neck and threw him over his head and slammed him into the floor as the water began to flood the room, slamming his own knife down as Manta raised his to block it. Manta struggled beneath Arno, his blade inching closer and closer as the water began to flood the room, renovating the blonde's strength. Thankfully Manta's suit compensated for the weight pressing down on him, slamming his helmet into the blonde's head.

Arno recoiled from the hit, Manta raised his feet and kicked him off him into the water, the diver raised his arm and fired another harpoon at the spot where the blonde was submerged. As he waited for any blood to surface, Arno burst out of the water behind him and slashed his dagger across Manta's armored back, the blade chipped the armor but didn't break it. **"Melted Platinum scales."** Manta explained briefly swinging his leg back at Arno.

The blond grabbed the limb and swung Manta helmet first into a pipe, breaking it in half before throwing him across the room as the Water finally submerged both of them. Arno swam straight at Manta, blade drawn at the ready, but the diver raised his had with a small cylinder, pressing down on the top, the entire room rocketed as explosions erupted within the water, knocking Arno off course and slamming him into the ceiling as Manta retreated through the entrance to the pipe room.

After a few seconds of regaining his bearings Arno shot through the water after Manta, he could feel multiple explosions vibrate through the water and it only spurred him to go faster. When he burst of from the water he flew up the stairs and back out into the arena. The ring was set ablaze with a column of smoke rising o from the fire towards the broken ceiling, where Amon and his Equalists were using repelling platforms to escape along with Manta while Korra used a spout of water to raise herself up into the air after Amon.

The diver waved at him as he was raised up from the water. Arno sneered as he crouched down and launched himself over towards Manta, he reached his hand up towards the small, round platform but just barely missed it, falling into the water. Manta let out a chuckle, **"Stay in the water where you're useful."** he said with a besmirching tone before the blonde shot up from the water, tackling Manta off the Platform straight through the glass dome ceiling.

The two rolled across the surface of the glass, Arno managed to recover first out of both of them, looking up at the blimp he saw Korra swing kick a swipe of fire out and knocking off two chi blockers. Arno turned his attention back to Manta and swung his foot around into the side of Manta's helmet, rolling across the ground he raised his gauntlet and shot a harpoon at the blonde's feet. Before the glass beneath him shattered he dove to the side of the dome and recovered into a sprint, taking out his dagger as he charged around back to Manta.

A Manta raised his blade and parried Arno's thrust, "I know you hate me Manta but Equalists? I didn't think you were the type." he said before ducking back beneath Manta's counter strike, spinning the knife around in his hand he swung it back at the swimmer. Arno raised his arm to stop Manta's.

Manta's red eyes met Arno's, **"Means to your end!"** he shouted, dropping the blade in his hand and twirling on his heel to catch it backwards in his other, Arno backed away to avoid having his abdomen slashed open but quickly jetted his knee into Manta's helmet, cracking one of the eyes as Arno grabbed the obtuse headgear, reeling his fist back he slammed it into Manta's helmet, the blow knocking him off the building an out into the water.

Or at least that was the plan until Manta once again used his retractable harpoon and shot a line into the metal frame of the glass dome. Pulling himself back, he slammed his feet into Arno, smashing him into the glass and making cracks splinter out from around them before breaking apart, sending Arno falling back down into the stadium while Manta hung on by the harpoon line.

Arno crashed into the now abandoned stands, crushing a row of two seats beneath him the blonde rose up with a groan of pain from the cuts and bruises that Manta had left him. _Yeah…that wasn't painful._ he thought with sarcasm.

* * *

"So the guy in black was Manta?" Korra asked whilst using her waterbending to seal the wounds that Manta had cut into him. After Amon and Manta escaped, Korra, Tenzin and him had gone back to Air Temple Island to lick their wounds. Both metaphorically and somewhat literally.

Arno sat in the living room of the Temple while Korra finished tending to his wounds, Tenzin's wife Pema had gotten a bowl of water for him and a glass of leechee juice for him. His intention was to be polite and drink the substance anyway but he was genuinely surprised by the flavor, "Yeah, also this is very refreshing, thank you." he said gratefully to the pregnant wife who smiled kindly at his praise as he took another sip. When Korra finished healing him, she held up the orange tunic that Pema had brought him. Slipping the fabric over his head and torso, he looked over at Korra, "But he's working with the Equalists as a means to an end, that much is clear."

Tenzin nodded, "Agreed, but that only shows how truly dangerous he is." he said before looking over at Arno, "Our offer still stands." he said, the blonde let out a tired sigh.

"Alright fine…..I'll stay here on the island. But only until Manta and these Equalists are dealt with." he agreed, Korra smiling at him as he finally conceded. He saw her and smirked, "Happy Avatar?"

"Over the moon." she said with as much sarcasm as he had in his own voice.

As Tenzin and Arno left to show the new arrival to his room, the swimmer couldn't help but genuinely smile, it would be nice sleeping in a home again after so long.

* * *

 **AN: Wow. This….is…..WAY overdue. But I got on a roll with my Spider-Man/RWBY story but thankfully that's on hiatus until volume 6 of the show is over which means from now until January this is my main comic book crossover!**

 **Also another trailer came out and the moive looks SICK!**

 **Now as you've probably realized, this story is kinda flying by with how much I cover per chapter, so I might be able to put both books 1 &2 into this single story before having to write a sequel story with 3&4\. Or who knows maybe I'll have all the books in this single story? We'll see how it goes. **

**Until next chapter (which I swear won't take as long) see you then!**


	4. Chapter 4 (Repercussions)

**Repercussions**

 **AN: Not surprising that this fic isn't as popular as other's I've written, however I still find enjoyment in writing this…but I'll probably make another to write alongside this one until January. In fact I got one idea that would be interesting and fit well into the universes. But until then your stuck with Aquaman, so let's start this show!**

* * *

 **(Play Opening Smash into Pieces- Let me be Your Superhero.)**

 **Arno is floating amidst the vast empty ocean with the rays of the sun illuminating the different creatures of the sea as they surrounded him. From behind him the Unagi appeared and its eyes glowed a bright blue. Arno then propels himself forward with a boom in the water holding out his dagger in his hand. A large storm falling upon the ocean.**

 **Arno jumps out of the ocean and into a large pirate ship. As pirates begin to circle around him he sprints into action. With his golden dagger he blocked their blades and countered with a direct jab to the stomach of one of the pirates crashing into more pirates. He then jumps over another group landing behind them. Arno swipes his leg behind them bringing them to the floor.**

 **A row of spears came from behind causing Arno to dodge them and then catch them. He then used the spears to throw the pirates overboard. Just then a pair of red eyes light up from the darkness causing Arno to narrow his eyes. Arno grips his dagger in an iron grip as the storm cleared and the lights of Republic City cut through the darkness. Arno charged as an army of sharks and the Unagi followed him from behind.**

* * *

The fallout from the Equalist's attack on the Pro Bending Arena was devastating, not only had Amon demonstrated his ability to take away people's bending to the entire world, at the same time giving someone for anyone with a plight against benders around the entire world a leader to fallow. The more immediate threat to society was that non-benders across Republic City were rallying behind him and his message, Benders needed to be put in their place.

Arno thought a new perspective was in order, so he asked Tenzin if he could use the phone. _'This isn't what I thought it would be.'_ Ming said across the phone line. She had opted to stay on Kiyoshi island after hearing about the attack on arena, _'I sighed up with Amon because I wanted my voice to be heard, I didn't want innocent people getting to feel threatened.'_ she explained.

Arno leaned against the wall beside the phone, holding up both the earpiece and receiver, "I know Ming…..look I just wanted to make sure you weren't coming back." he said, the thought of Manta discovering he had a friend from his childhood in the city was enough for him to demand she stay away if she persisted. But that wasn't the only reason he called, "…..am I doing the right thing getting involved?" he asked her.

 _'What? Yeah of course you are! Arno I may get why they're doing this, but these guys are going way too far. I know it's the Avatar's job but that doesn't mean it's not yours.'_ she said earnestly, making the blonde smile at her confidence with him. Ming always had his back, even when they were just kids, so it was nice that despite being apart for years she still was willing to back him up.

"Thanks…..not sure how much help I'll be on dry land though." he joked, something he used to do with both Ming and his dad was make fun of how for as useful as he was on the water, he didn't get anything extra from being on land. He heard the girl snicker on the other end, "Look I gotta go. Stay safe Ming."

 _'Back at you fishman.'_ she replied in jest before hanging up, leaving Arno with a smile before hanging up as well and setting the phone back on the small table. Opening the door to the small parlor where he made the call he saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eye scurry around the corner. The blonde only smiled and looked over patiently before three cautious heads poked out from around the side before immediately retreating upon being seen. Korra had told him about Tenzin's children but had only caught a few glimpses of him, Korra seemed surprised by this since they usually were beyond chatty with her.

"Huh, those were some strange looking Lemurs." he joked out loud, he heard the trio snicker to themselves. Smirking to himself he watched at the middle child, Ikki he remembered Korra called her, popped her head out from around the corner and used Airbending to swoosh over to him in the blink of an eye.

"Your nice, also I really like your hair, I've never seen someone with gold hair is it real?" she asked as Arno kneeled in front of her.

"Yes, it's real." he said, taking a pinch of his hair and tugging at it to prove it, "My dad called it blonde. Though honestly I don't know where he got that from." he admitted somewhat absentmindedly. He remembered when he asked dad what color his hair was he just answered it easily, blonde the same as his mother. "Though it does sound better than yellow." he said, the excitable girl nodding in agreement as her older sister and younger brother joined her, "So you three must be kids of Tenzin I've heard so much about." he said as he stood up from the ground.

The eldest smiled at their guest, "I'm Jinora, this is Ikki," she gestured to his sister with two buns of hair atop her head "-and this is Meelo." she said, gesturing her other hand to her younger brother, whose head was as bald as his father and had an obtuse shape to it.

"You are in my domain trespasser!" he announced loudly and dramatically, making Arno bellow out a laugh. He was a natural with kids, he used to babysit a little back on Kiyoshi Island when he was in middle school, so he could make some extra cash. It could be frustrating at times but thankfully for Arno he had developed a lot of patience at that point and was capable of enduring the frustration and fond in entertaining them for a while.

"I was unaware I was in the domain of Meelo the mighty airbender. My apologies." he said with an emphasized politeness. The boy's eyes widened as he heard the title given to him and a large grin spread across his face.

Ikki gasped, "Can I have a fancy title too? Can I? Can I? Can I?" she asked, hopping up and down in place while her elder sister had to suppress a giggle.

"How about Ikki the Invincible?" he proposed, from the way she clasped her hands together and inhaled a large breath of air through her mouth he guessed she liked it. "And maybe…..Jinora the Wise?" he suggested. The eldest daughter beamed at the name, the trio of children took off with their new titles, leaving a smiling Arno to watch them go before starting his search for the children's father. He found Tenzin sitting at the dining room table reading the newspaper detailing Amon's attack on the arena, "Any mention of a certain blonde in there?" he asked.

Tenzin looked up at him and shook his head, "No, everyone was focused on Amon. Though they do think that Manta is one of Amon's men." he explained as Arno sat across from him at the opposite end of the table, it wasn't exactly a stretch of the imagination. The Equalists managed to produce a glove that electrifies anyone they grab and thus gives nonbenders a weapon any of them can use, untrained or otherwise.

Arno rested his elbows on the table while his hands cradled his chin, "Not exactly wrong…but he's just using them to get at me. Manta couldn't care less about the politics, being with them just gives him means of killing me." he stated, causing Tenzin to frown and nod in agreement. "Tenzin…..I need your honest opinion, no trying to soften the blow….am I really helping?" he asked.

Tenzin gave the blonde a knowing look, "You feel responsible for what happened at the arena." he stated. Arno didn't say anything but only gave a slight nod. "Arno even if you hadn't had been there, and Manta wasn't as well, I suspect that things would have played out much the same way that they did." he said wisely. Manta's involvement may have been because of Arno's but even then, with how things played out they probably would be right where they were right now.

Arno thought through the scenario in his mind, and he could only agree with Tenzin's wisdom, "So….what do we do now?" he asked.

Tenzin set the paper down onto the table, "I want to calm things down to be perfectly honest, what you said when we first met, about the council and the Equalist's being a way for those we've ignored….I can't lie, it's been on my mind since." he admitted, making the guest frown

"I'm sorry, my words were-"

"Somewhat harsh, but ultimately correct." Tenzin interrupted, Arno looked up at Tenzin and smiled. "We all agree that Amon's methods are extreme, but to his credit he hasn't attacked any innocents. The Wolfbats bribed and cheated their way to fame, the triads have constantly been a problem since Republic City was founded, and as you've said yourself the Council might represent the City, but not the entire city." he said, recollecting the events of the past few months.

 _Has it really been that long?_ Arno couldn't help but muse. "He's been appealing to the non-benders by circumventing the law. But there's also no real precedent for removing people's bending. Aang was the only one to do it before and he used it against dangerous people…in a way he's almost modeling himself after him." he realized. If Amon had just taken bending left and right it would have caused nothing but fear and panic, but by going after people who were bad, people who abused their power he made himself a beacon in the same way Aang did. Arno looked up and saw the astonished look the airbender was giving him, the blonde shrugged, "I spend a lot of time reading." he answered simply.

Tenzin regained his composure, "Lin is working on tracking down where they manufactured those gloves. Her hope is that by taking away their weapons, the Equalists will scramble to try and rearm themselves and get sloppy."

Arno wasn't convinced by the argument, getting rid of their weaponry would slow them down without a doubt, but it wouldn't cripple them. Lin's plan relied on them being solely dependent on their weapons now so that if they were to be cut off they would be useless for a time. And there was the possibility that it could work, they were emboldened by the electro glove's creation, more abductions of benders were occurring but not all of them fitting the former criteria that they misused their bending.

Only time would tell, but in the meantime, Arno still had Black Manta to deal with. The question that came to mind was one that he pondered with every time he and Manta fought…..should he end it? Should he just kill Manta and be done with all this senseless violence? The better part of him, the part of him that helped people in need said no, as much as Manta hated him he couldn't just kill him. Killing his father led to this, there has to be a better way. But the logical side of him was the opposite, Manta has hurt countless people just to hurt him, and if ending his life could save others then wasn't it his duty to do so?

He obviously didn't want to kill Manta, but the question wasn't what he wanted to do, it's what he needs to do.

The two men's conversations were interrupted as Korra entered the room with a look of defeat on her face before sitting down arms surrounding her hear head on the table. Arno and Tenzin shared a glance, silently asking the other to ask what was wrong. In the end Arno sighed, "What's wrong Korra?" he asked.

The avatar lifted her head up at him, "It's nothing just…..Mako and Bolin are staying at Asami's place instead of here at the Air Temple." she said with disappointment. Korra had told her about the Sato heiress, and while she hadn't done anything to Korra he had a very clear idea as to why she wouldn't like her. Especially after Tenzin told him about an entire episode that Korra had regarding her feeling for a certain firebender. "She actually invited me over to visit tomorrow but I'm not sure." she admitted.

Arno sighed tiredly, if there was one thing he liked about the lack of human contact it was not having to deal with drama like this. But Korra was a teenager, it was only natural for this to happen, he had talked to both Mako and Bolin a few times over the weeks leading up to the pro bending final and they were both good guys. After meeting Bolin he could tell immediately that he had no right to be put in the same camp as the triads as he had done when he heard Amon captured him.

"Look Korra, before you hate this girl, why don't you at least try to get to know her before passing judgement?" he suggested. Korra looked unsure but the Avatar nodded in understanding, deciding to give the heiress a chance.

"Don't suppose you want to come with me?" she asked hopefully, Arno gave her a blank look, "Please?" she asked in a small voice.

Arno's first instinct was to decline her offer, as well intentioned as it maybe he didn't know this Asami at all and simply showing up uninvited seemed very rude. Besides he needed to help track down Black Manta, "I'll…think about it. I got something I need to check out tomorrow." he said as he stood up from the table and made his way out of the room.

There might have been one way to find Manta…..but he didn't look forward to it.

* * *

 **Republic City, Residential District**

Arno let out a long, tried sigh as he stood outside the brownstone. Walking up the steps to the door he knocked his knuckles against the wood and stepped back, waiting for the occupant to open the door. He heard footsteps approach the other side, fallowed by silence as he looked through the small peep hole in the door. He unlocked the door as fast as he could before swinging the door open, across the threshold to the house stood a man a good foot shorter than Arno, he was skinny, older, wore a pair of glasses over his eyes with a short head of hair over his scalp. "Arno….I….-"

"Dr. Shin…..I need your help." he said bluntly. The short man blinked as he registered what the blonde asked him, nodding his head he stepped aside and let Arno enter the home. The interior of the home matched it's humble exterior, Shin backed away from Arno and made his way down the hall past the staircase towards the kitchen.

"I uhh…when I saw the paper about the Avatar and Amon and read the description I wasn't sure if it was you or not." Shin admitted as Arno fallowed him into the kitchen. He noticed that beside his fridge there was a small fishbowl with a pair of small fish inside the water. "So….how can I help." the doctor asked, visibly a little nervous around Arno.

He didn't blame him, Shin had revealed Arno to the world despite his father's wishes, it was natural that he would be nervous around Arno, "Shin…..Manta is working with Amon." he said bluntly, causing the scientist's face to pale.

"Oh spirits…I…." Shin began, holding his hand up to his mouth in shock . The guilt he had upon his face almost made Arno regret telling him. "Arno I'm…..I'm so sorry…Spirits if I just…." he trailed off as he sat down onto his stool. He was the one who hired Manta to steal some of Arno's blood, what happened to Arno's and Manta's fathers were upon him. Arno had shouted that at him the last time he saw him before leaving Kiyoshi Island for a full two years.

Arno watched as Shin ran his hands over his face, "Shin….I know that…..last time we spoke I was angry….I said some things that….well they were harsh…..and looking back I don' think you deserved all that anger." he said earnestly, the doctor lowered his hands from his face and looked up at Arno imploringly. It was clear, to Arno at least, that Shin felt guilty for what happened to his father and regret was something he was familiar with. "Shin, I need to know how you got in contact with Manta in the first place. I want to try and find him before anything else happens." he explained.

The doctor nodded, his sorrowful face soon replaced with a more focused expression, "Honestly I'm not sure it will help. I met him after he was denied docking here in the city a few years ago. He used to be a scavenger, but he had a habit of skirting around the rules of salvaging. When your father called me about your headaches I had to get to Kiyoshi as soon as I could and a few Yuans….he left as fast as he could, no manifest, no questions." he explained.

Arno crossed his arms over his chest, Shin noticed the look of disappointment and frowned, looking down at the tiled floor, "Arno I….I know what I did was wrong….and-"

"Shin it's…it's ok." the swimmer interrupted, the doctor looked up at Arno, "My dad died from a heart condition…Manta had nothing to do with it. If I hadn't have just flown off the handle…things wouldn't be the way they are now." he said wisely. Walking forward he leaned against the counter beside Shin, "And I know that in a way you just wanted to help…besides, turns out revealing myself to the world isn't as big a deal as I thought." he said with a shrug. After his very public appearance at the Pro Bending arena, there was no longer any doubt to the myth that there was an Aquaman.

A few of the photos of him made it to the paper and with the reports of what happened so it would be impossible to deny. Tenzin told him that a few news outlets have reached out to him for questions, but he hadn't given anything to them, one thing was for sure he wasn't going to do what Korra did and throw a press conference.

Shin chuckled dryly, "Arno they just don't know the facts. They think 'Aquaman'-"

"Still hate that name." Arno grumbled out.

"Well it's not inaccurate." Shin noted, Arno gave him a displeased look, but the doctor ignored it, "But most people just think you're a skilled waterbender. If they knew the real truth? That you're a completely different species? Could you imagine how people would react? We barely get along with each other, I mean we're in the middle of a war between benders and non-benders." he pointed out, turning his head to the blonde. "You don't need to be a part of this fight."

He wasn't wrong, in fact he was right for the most part. A few months ago if he had told Arno that he would have agreed but now? "Yeah but…..my dad was human…..doesn't that make part of this my problem?" he asked. Months ago he would have not gotten involved, if he came across Equalists hurting someone he would have stopped it, but he wouldn't actively try and stop it. In a way, he has Korra to thank for this, she told him about being kept locked up in the South Pole, isolated from everyone including her own family…she arguably knew isolation as much as he did.

But she still got involved in the world, she wanted to help. Despite her being younger than him, he couldn't help but admire that. Shin looked at Arno with a proud look, smiling a little he reached out and patted Arno's shoulder, "He'd be proud of you….for all you do." he said knowingly. Arno let out a small chuckle, he doubted his exploits over the years didn't reach Shin's ears somehow despite however small or vague.

"Yeah….you know that he'd forgive you right?" Arno asked, "He knew that this….me, meant a lot to you and…..he just wanted to wait a while before his son became….this." he said, gesturing to himself. Shin nodded in understanding, what Arno had to ask next was a question that if he asked anyone else would make them call the loony bin, "Shin…..do you have any idea where Atlantis might be?"

Shin's eyes shot open as he looked over at Arno, he saw the pleading look that the blonde had in his eyes. "Fallow me." he said stepping away from the kitchen counter and walking to a door that led downstairs.

"….it's in your basement?" Arno asked, unable to help himself, Shin let out a short laugh as Arno fallowed him down the wooden steps. Arno's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and saw what laid inside the room before Shin reached up and turned the lights to the room on. Lining the walls of the basement were maps, ripped out pages with circled passages and keywords. A small bookshelf was set along the wall with dozens of books, not all of them verified as historical fact, Arno didn't expect all of this research to be put into the location of a fictional place.

It made his searching for the past three years seem paltry in comparison, Shin gestured to a large map of the world on the far wall, "Obviously Atlantis would be in the ocean somewhere….where have you checked?" he asked, reaching down to the desk beside he maps and picking up a marker.

Most of the map was crossed off, the great lakes of the Earth Kingdom were out of the question obviously, "I've checked near both the North and South pole, about three hundred knots out from all bodies of land." he said, Shin nodded as he made an outline around all the pieces of land from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation.

"Most of my research shows that Atlantis was isolated from most of the world….what about the Black Sea?" he asked, pointing at the waters to the South East of the Earth Kingdom.

Arno however shook his head, "Yeah I thought too, there's actually a lot of trenches out that way, I thought maybe I'd be lucky and find a city down in one of them. I spent months looking but didn't find anything. Boiling Sea too, the sea floor is too unstable with all the volcanos." he added as well. Shin looked up and nodded at the logic, it crossed out most of the map, however one spot seemed to draw Arno's attention, "You think the Fair Ocean is a possibility?" he asked skeptically.

The Fair Ocean was the stretch of sea that was between the Fire Nation and the Southern Air Temple's boarders. It was one of the most well-traveled routes in the entire world, "It's the largest stretch of water in the entire world, if there was at one point a large landmass there it wouldn't be entirely out of place." Shin reasoned, "Not to mention that most tales of Atlantis originate from the Fire Nation and Air Nomads."

Arno scratched his beard in contemplation, "You'd think the Watertribes would."

Shin didn't respond right away, "Arno…if you find it….what will you do?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the blonde. "If there are other people there-"

"That's a big if Shin." the swimmer said, looking up at the map, "If I'm being honest….I doubt it even exists….but it's the only lead I have. And even then…..what if my mother was the sole survivor? What if I'm the only one of my kind in the world?" he asked. He'd been asking those questions for so many years now, a part of him didn't want to know but if there was an answer out there then he needed to find it….no matter how painful it might be.

The blonde felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked down at Shin, "Then….." he paused as he thought of what to say, "….you start again…..the Air Nomads where believed to be extinct. Yet now there are four living airbenders today. Just because you are alone now doesn't mean you shall be alone forever." he said sagely.

The words caused Arno to smile, "Thanks Shin…..could I ask one more favor?"

* * *

 **Republic City Police Station, Republic City**

The Republic City Police Station was busy when Arno arrived, Korra told him that Police Chief Beifong wanted to talk with her regarding what happened, and Tenzin convinced him that he doing the same might be helpful as well. When he walked into the waiting area and spotted Korra sitting alone on a bench, he approached her. Korra looked up and gave him a nod, "Hey, how'd your thing go?" she asked as Arno took the seat beside her.

Propping his elbows up on the back of the bench he shook his head, "I didn't get any info on Manta but…I got back in touch with a friend." he answered with a small smile. Korra returned it, happy that at least some good came out of his detour. As they sat in wait, Arno looked over at the Avatar, "So…..what's Beifong like?"

"Cranky." Korra said bluntly, Arno raised a brow as he waited for her to further explain but when she didn't he couldn't help but feel a little more anxious. As they sat in wait, Korra noticed a few of the officers and people at the station looking over their way. She had grown accustomed to people gawking at her and took a little pride in it but she realized that their focus wasn't on her. She gently elbowed Arno, "I think your being recognized." she said with a smirk.

Arno looked around and noticed that she was right, people where taking notice of him, a few whispering lowly in an attempt not to be noticed themselves but with Arno's ears he could pick up a few words.

"That's the guy right? That Water guy."

"I saw him at the arena, he was fighting some weird looking guy in the water."

"That's some long hair…..you think I could pull that off?"

"Excuse me." Arno looked up at the voice in front of him, he had been so focused on listening he didn't even see the officer-

"Officer Shu!" Arno exclaimed, the same policeman he met on his first day in Republic City. The man nodded with a friendly smile, Arno stood and shook his hand, "Nice to see you again." the blonde said friendly as Shu shook his hand.

"I was about to say the same son. When I saw your picture in the paper well…..didn't expect to see that on my street corner this morning." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. Arno had almost not recognized him with his helmet off, the metal bender looked around Arno's age now that he got a better look at him. "You here to give another statement?" he asked curiously, to which the blonde nodded, "Well I can do that. This way." he said, leading the swimmer away while Korra watched with a small smile, waving at him as he left with pride.

As they entered the bullpen area again, Arno could feel almost every eye in the room on him, it felt strange to be the center of attention. Shu seemed to notice and just gave Arno a quick grin, "Not used to the stares?" he asked, the blonde nodded, "I was the same when I first started, everyone stares at cops when they're close by. I get why, I mean I'm trained to take down criminals." he said understandably as they reached his desk.

Arno took his seat, "How'd you get over it?" he asked with genuine curiosity. He didn't care how, he just wanted people to stop staring.

Shu shrugged, "It stopped bothering me after a while…and until then I was just friendly." he said upon seeing Arno frown at his first answer. Shu grabbed a notepad and pen, "Alright so let's start at the beginning."

Shu didn't know exactly what he was asking until Arno told him everything that happened between him and Manta. He left out the backstory between them for obvious reasons but even still the officer was more than a little shocked by everything Arno told him, "So….you can breathe…..underwater?" he asked.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle, with all the info he just gave the officer that was the one fact that stood out the most, "Yeah. I can breathe underwater." Shu blinked before adding that to his report, as he wrote however he suddenly stopped, "….how exactly?" he asked, more out of genuine curiosity.

Arno scratched the side of his head bashfully, "Well I take in air through my skin. I don't have gills or anything, but I don't have lungs either. So I breathe the same way up here as I do in water." he explained. This information however didn't entirely relax he officer, "…..honestly the only bad part is I don't know what it's like to hold my breath." he said earnestly. _Though no one could beat me on the playground when we tried to see who could do it longer._ he thought to himself.

Shu leaned back in his chair, still processing the information, "I'm uhh…gonna grab some coffee do you…want anything?"

"Saltwater." Arno said with a straight face, when Shu stared at him a grin broke across the blonde's face, "Coffee's fine. I like mine plain if you would." he said, making the officer let out a chuckle before standing up and going to get them both a drink. As he left, Arno couldn't help but shake his head at the face the officer made when he gave his silly request. He meant it to be a joke but he honestly thought he was serious, he suddenly understood why Korra would host a press conference for her arrival, that way people could ask whatever they wanted and he could clear up any and all worries.

When Shu came back with their dinks, he looked back down at his report, "So this….Black Manta. Do you know his real name? By chance?" he asked as Arno sipped the hot liquid.

 _Funny for as well as we know each other I don't even know what Manta's real name is._ he thought with a frown. "No…..Manta was his nickname or something. I think it because he did some illegal scavenging. He'd steal objects from old hundred-year war wrecks and sell them off to bidders." he explained.

Shu shrugged as he added it to his report, "Well this fills in a lot of blanks. Equalists must be offering him a lot to help their cause. And it explains how explosives where planted on the hulls of the police boats the night of the final." he said, putting the pieces together quite easily. Arno felt a twinge of guilt, while no one had been killed but the damage done to the police force was almost crippling to their operations. Shu stood up from his sea and raised his hand, "Thanks for your help Arno. Last night and now." he said gratefully.

Arno shook his hand but wasn't fully convinced he actually helped with anything, as he left the desk however he noticed that Shin was swarmed by his fellow officers as he left. Each of them dying to learn more about Aquaman. _Seriously hate that name. It makes it sound like I turn into water or something._ he thought as he exited the bullpen to see Korra conversing with an older woman, her hair was slightly grey, she had sharp green eyes and sharper face, with a pair of scars on her right cheek. As he approached she immediately noticed him and looked him over, sizing him up as it were.

Korra noticed and looked over at Arno, "Chief Beifong this is Arno, Arno Lin Beifong." she introduced, taking a step back out of either caution or to let the two converse. Arno had the feeling it was the former.

Lin looked at him, her hands placed on her hips with a skeptical expression on her face, "So you're the fish boy I've been hearing about?" she asked in an unimpressed tone.

Arno suddenly liked the Aquaman moniker much better as compared to that alternative, "Yes. I am." he said, crossing his arms across his chest, he and law enforcement never seemed to get along well. Ming's father on Kiyoshi being a good example, it was because he was different from everyone else, he could do things no one else could do and if he wanted to he could cause countless problems for them. "I just gave officer Shu my report on what happened, and everything I know about Manta."

The Beifong let out a 'humph', "Tenzin told me about your history between you and this Manta character." she said, the blonde didn't grimace despite his desire to. Lin looked at him sharply, "What happened is out of my jurisdiction, but let me clear. Spill any blood and my city? I don't care who or WHAT you are. You'll be inside a cell faster than you can swim." she threatened before walking away.

Arno took a deep breath as Korra approached with a small scowl on her face directed at Lin, "I'm sorry if I had known she was gonna-"

"It's fine Korra." The blonde interrupted, uncrossing his arms and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I made a mistake, I gotta live with it." he said as they made their way out of the police station. At the stoop of the steps to the station was Naga, patiently awaiting her master as they both walked down the stairs before trotting over to Korra and licking her affectionately.

Korra rubbed the canine's head affectionately, looking over at Arno with a small smile, "Offer still stands to come with me to see Mako and Bolin." she said, extending the olive branch once again.

Arno considered the offer for a moment, in retrospect Bolin and Mako might be the closest thing he has to actual friends in the city besides Tenzin and Korra…well they were acquaintances if anything but still. Would going to hang out with them be the worst thing in the world? "…your sure that they wouldn't mind me showing up unannounced?" he asked. Korra's eyes brightened up as she nodded enthusiastically, "Alright fine." he said, besides how bad could this be?

* * *

 **Sato Estate, Republic City**

Both the Avatar and swimmer where immediately blown away by the sheer size of the Sato Estate. _Spirits I knew Sato was rich but damn._ Arno thought as he and Korra made their though the gates of the compound and towards the manor, "My lighthouse feels like a shack now." he admitted as they walked through the driveway where enough cars were parked for a good portion of the Kiyoshi Island population.

"My compound feels like a one story house." Korra replied, looking at a gardener as he trimmed the hedges along the steps to the actual house. "Should….should we have worn something more formal?" she asked, looking over at Arno who could only shrug. He only had his jacket and the orange shirt that Pema had given him after Manta destroyed his old shirt. He usually didn't care about how he looked since he wasn't often around people, but being back in civilization was beginning to make him think about his appearance more.

Approaching he door, neither of them stepped forward to knock, Korra looked over at Arno expectantly which he responded with a look, "Hey you wanted me to tag along." he said, the Avatar knocked against the door. A moment later jus before she was about to knock again, the door opened with a neatly dressed man in a tux answered.

"Avatar Korra, you and your guest are expected. Please fallow me." the man said politely, Arno and Korra looked at each other before fallowing the man through the doors. The outside of the mansion was impressive, but the interior was equally if not more so. The high ceiling with the expensive glass chandelier, the almost golden hue o the floor walls and stairs, it made Arno feel like he was in a palace.

Fallowing the servant through the household, he led the two guests to a indoor swimming pool where the bending brothers were, "Announcing the arrival of Avatar Korra and her guest." the butler said, bowing to the side and letting Arno and Korra step forward as Bolin did a cannonball off a statue by the pool which spouted water out from the head into the pool.

"Hey Korra, Arno." Mao greeted cheerfully,

"Glad you could make it." Asami said excitedly before Bolin burst out of the water.

"Welcome to paradise." he said as the small Fire Ferret swam onto his owner's stomach as he floated through the pool. "Arno my friend, come in the water, join us." he asked in a sophisticated tone of voice, making the blonde roll his eyes.

"Thanks Bolin but I'll stay up here. Pool water feels weird to me. It's like…ocean is like solid ground but pool water like sand." he said, trying to explain it. He assumed it was because pool water usually had something to make it clean in it. Bolin shrugged before climbing out of the pool and demonstrated to Korra the butler's service by having him dry himself and Pabu off with a towel…..only to jump back into the pool.

Mako and Asami swam to the edge of the pool and both climbed out, "So you're Arno, Mako's told me a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." the heiress said politely to the blonde. Arno tried not to stare at the Sato heiress but it was a little hard not to, she was beautiful and wearing a swimsuit, but with her boyfriend right beside him it was easy not to.

He gave a friendly nod, "You too. Mako won't or can't stop talking about you." he said, the Firebender jabbing him with his elbow as Asami giggled before looking at Korra, "So are you two up for something exciting?" she asked, albeit with a mischievous undertone.

Minutes later they were in the backyard of the Sato estate- "Oh no freaking way." Arno said aloud when he saw the racetrack in Asami's backyard. "Ok that's it I gotta get some new stuff for my place." he said decisively. He didn't hate the way his and his father lived but after seeing all this? A bowling alley in the Lighthouse didn't sound too bad, or a Pai Sho table, a fancy one made of some sort of tree.

Asami smiled as they entered the small stands to observe the racers, "It's the Future Industries test track. We try out all new Satomobile prototypes here." she explained as two of the cars zoomed past the stands.

"Only thing I know how to drive is a Polar Bear Dog." Korra admitted sheepishly. The White Louts' main concern was teaching her about her duties as the Avatar instead of you know, teaching her normal things. _Sure teach me politics but not how to drive._ she thought to herself sarcastically.

The blonde shrugged at her, "It's not too complicated, just takes practice….and making sure you don't hit anything." he said, thinking back to when his father would take him out driving. He nearly gave his dad a heart attack when he kept mixing up the break and the gas.

Asami looked at the Avatar with a friendly smile, "You want to give it a shot?" she asked, tilting her head over to the track. Mako, Bolin, and Arno all looked at Korra with a slightly worried expression, Korra behind the wheel of a racing class Satomobile? The three all shared a glance which translated to, 'Get ready to run for you lives.'

Thankfully, for the sake of everyone currently outside really, Asami was driving with Korra in the seat behind her. "I can tell why you like her." Arno said to Mako as the two climbed into a car. Mako smiled proudly as he watched his girlfriend drive up to the starting line, to say Asami was a go getter was a understatement, she was almost like a multitool, ready to take on any challenge.

The cars took off with the wave of a checkered flag with Asami and Korra trailing slightly behind the other driver. The track itself wasn't as long as one would think, it took about a minute and a half for the drivers to complete a entire lap. Around the minute mark, Asami overtook the other driver, causing him to spinout while Korra and Asami cross the finish line. When the trio met up with Korra and Asami, the two were getting along well, much to Arno's contentment, he was glad to see Korra getting along with Asami after her initial distain for her.

As they headed back to the manor, Bolin rushed ahead in order to find a restroom, the Earthbender kicking up dust in his attempt to make sure he made it in time. Korra also left for the ladies room upstairs, leaving Arno, Mako, and Asami in the main hall, "Sorry for dropping in unannounced, Korra was a little intimidated about coming here herself." he apologized to the heiress.

Asami however have a kind smile, "It's fine Arno. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little curious to meet you." she admitted, Mako putting a arm around her shoulder which she moved into slightly.

Arno nodded in understanding with a grin, "Yeah I know Bolin isn't the most…reserved guy." he said, knowing full well that Bolin was probably the one to brag about knowing Arno. "I keep getting stared at…..like everyone's waiting for me to do something disgusting or weird." he admitted. He was used to being observed and stared at, he always managed to be the black sheep wherever he went, due to his appearance, his attitude, even his own hair color was a rarity.

The Firebender gave Arno a sad look, when he first met they didn't exactly start off on the right foot. Arno got a stone slab to the face for his trouble and he was slammed face first into the ground. It wasn't the most conventional ways to meet someone, but that's something rarely chosen. And when Korra told him and Bolin about what Arno revealed to her, that he could be the only one of his kind, that his mother left him, and that he was forced to leave his own home?

He couldn't imagine that, he and Bolin both lost their parents but they still have each other, but Arno had no one until he and Korra talked with him. Mako rubbed the back of his head, "Well….I don't think your disgusting." he supplied, making Arno look at him blankly before snorting out a small laugh.

"What I think he's trying to say is you seem like a nice guy. And that's all that matters." Asami said in a more eloquent manner.

The blonde nodded at her response, "Thanks…..really that means….it means something." he said just as Bolin rejoined them with Pabu.

"Ok, I'm back, what are we talking about?" he asked with the waiter trailing behind him. As Bolin had the waiter spray him down with what looked like perfume, Arno saw Korra come down the stairs with an almost panicked look upon her face.

* * *

 **Equalist Hideout, Undisclosed Location.**

Manta grinded the whetstone across his dagger as he barely listened to the briefing Amon was giving from his corner of the room. His last fight with Arno had gone about as well as it could have. He was distracted long enough for Amon's plan to go off without a hitch. The only downside was that he was unable to end Arno's life, as he would have preferred. But with Arno alive and exposed….it raised possibilities. "What about the Aquaman?" one of the Equalists asked.

Manta had to suppress his smirk at the name, it was such a stupid and unimaginative name and he sure that his blonde nemesis despised it. Looking up from his blade before sheathing it, he saw Amon look across the room to him. Standing up from his seat, he made his way through the rows of Equalists, standing by Amon's side was their current hideout's owner Hiroshi Sato. **"Aquaman is mine to deal with."** Manta said through his mask as he hopped up onto the stage. **"If your worried about him, don't be, worse thing he could do is give you a nasty cut or knock you out. Unlike us…..he's shy about spilling a little blood."** Manta said, knowing that it was a bold faced lie.

Arno was a killer, but only he was able to bring it out of him. **"In fact….I'm willing to bet that freak of nature is on everyone's mind right now. A creature that looks like us, talks like us…..but look at him…..he's nothing like us. Not like us….or the benders."** he said as a idea began to form in his mind. Turning his helmet to Amon, the revolutionary seemed to pick up on what he was getting at and stepped forward.

"Black Manta speaks the truth…..in fact, I have little doubt that the benders he sides himself with already scheme against him. Why? Because that is their nature. Whatever is not like them? Is a threat, and when the benders turn on him is when we will strike." he said decisively as Manta made his way off the small stage.

This was perfect, killing Arno was what he had been driving for since Arno took his father's life, but with him exposed to the city, to the world even, it gave him the means to do something worse to Arno. Make him suffer, make the world hate and fear him. And the best part was it wouldn't be hard, it's within their nature. _Just look at these idiots._ he thought, looking over his shoulder at the Equalists, only to find Hiroshi approaching him. **"Yes?"** he asked.

"Forgive me Manta, I've just been curious….who designed your suit?" the inventor asked curiously.

Manta was genuinely taken off by the question, **"I did. Used to be a simple diving suit I kept tinkering with."** he explained. Scavenging the ocean floor was a old business which modern technology made all the more easier. His first suit was clunky and slow, but adding metal to it made him able to submerge quicker, and the scales he made into the suit made it so that water pressure didn't affect him by making the suit airtight.

The armaments such as the harpoon shooters were tricky, but more than worth it with the range they gave him. Hiroshi seemed impressed by the information, "I ask because I might be able to provide an upgrade for you. If your interested of course." he offered.

Manta considered the offer for a moment, he needed every and any advantage he could manage against Arno. **"I'm listening."**

* * *

 **Central Police Station, Republic City**

"So you think Mr. Sato manufactured those gloves for the Equalists, then framed Cabbage Corp?" Tenzin asked Korra, the Avatar telling him, Lin, and Arno what she overheard the company's CEO say behind closed doors. She had all but dragged Arno out of the Sato mansion without barely any explanation other than they needed to talk with Tenzin and Lin. The four met atop the rooftop of the Police station where Korra retold everything she overheard.

"That's a bold accusation, what proof do you have?" Lin asked, she was skeptic about the claim but not entirely doubtful.

Korra's gaze suddenly went downward, "Well….I don't exactly have proof. But I know what I heard. Satos up to something." She said firmly, causing the chief of police to ponder to herself.

The blonde gave her a unconvinced look, "That's not exactly much to go on Korra." Arno began, "It could be something unrelated to the equalists. He might be thinking of buying Cabbage Corp stock or something." he provided. He certainly could see how Korra could think Sato was involved given what she heard but without the full conversation he was little skeptical.

"But he has the means." Lin pointed out, "And he does have motive." she suddenly realized as Tenzin's expression softened.

"That's right." Tenzin said sadly, Korra asked what and Tenzin's expression became somber, "Twelve years ago the Agni Kai Triad robbed Hiroshi Sato's mansion. A Firebender killed Sato's wife during the break-in." he explained, causing Arno to frown. He knew first hand what something like that loss could lead too, suddenly the idea of Hiroshi being an Equalist wasn't so farfetched.

"Maybe it's time we take a closer look at Hiroshi Sato." Lin said before looking over at Arno, "As for you…..well,…." she trailed off, looking at Tenzin while Arno and Korra looked at the two of them expectantly.

The Airbender sighed, "I received a call today, apparently Republic Forces is sending a commander Kota here to interrogate you." the airbender said to the blonde, causing both his and Korra's eyes to widen. The swimmer frowned as he realized as to what he meant, after the Hundred Year War laws were put in place between all Four Nations regarding treatment of hostile forces. Basically it made sure that torture and any other cruel methods of extracting information were prohibited under any and all circumstances for human beings.

The keyword being human. "What?! He hasn't done anything wrong!" she protested before looking at Lin, 'Can't you do anything?" she asked almost pleadingly.

Lin shook her head, "I might be in charge of the police kid but it's out of my hands." she said before directing her attention to Arno, "In fact they asked me to hold you until the ship arrives tomorrow." she said. While the Metalbender wasn't entirely trustful of the waterbreather, she knew full well what general Kota's real motive might be. Human or not she was not willing to hand someone over to that.

Korra shook her head, "Who even is this guy?" she asked.

Tenzin frowned, "From what my brother's told me, General Kota's head of the Elemental Nation's defense branch. He mostly tracks down and eliminates hostile elements, pirates, triads, anyone whose in the confines of the four Nations who's a threat to any of the governments is his responsibility." Tenzin explained, recalling the call he had with his brother after hearing about the news.

Korra shook her head in disbelief, "But Arno's done nothing but help the city, why-"

"Becasuse I'm a threat." Arno answered, the Avatar turned her head to him, "Korra it doesn't matter what I've done, fact is that I'm not even human. And I'm aligned with no Nation. Kiyoshi is considered part of the Earth Kingdom but I don't even have a birth certificate, I'm technically not a citizen anywhere." he explained, the situation beginning to dawn on Korra. It only made her even more frustrated, her hands clenched and her teeth grinded but Arno placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at his calm expression helped do the same with her.

"What are my options?" he asked the adults.

"You could leave." Lin said immediately, Korra glared at her for the answer, "But that won't solve anything, Kota is known for his relentlessness, he'll fallow you around the world if it comes to it."

Arno frowned, running was the smart option but if he was being honest a part of himself wanted to fight this. He couldn't exactly argue that he was a human being but at the very least he could try and use his past to show that he wasn't a threat to anyone, "The other option is you go back to Air Temple Island." the airbender said, "I can grant you asylum there, but you'll be contained until we work out a more plausible solution." Tenzin said. "But it's you decision."

Arno crossed his arms across his chest, _The smart thing is to run, in fact it's my first instinct to but how long can I keep that up?_ he thought to himself. It worked before when he needed to flee Kiyoshi but…that led to years of isolation, and over the past few months he made great strides towards overcoming what those years did…but was it worth it? Since he came to Republic City his secret was forced into the public, Manta joined the Equalists to spite him, and now the Untied Nations itself considered him a possible threat that needed to be dealt with.

 _…what would dad do?_ he thought to himself. His father, rest his soul, wasn't a perfect man but whenever Arno came to him with a problem his father always did his best to give his son an answer. But his father always made Arno hold a core belief that he still held to this day, that Arno would some day help the entire world somehow. That meant stopping Amon…..which he couldn't do running away…..or being stuck on Air Temple Island. _But at least on the island I can still be here to help._ he decided.

"I'll stay on the island….maybe if I can talk with Kota, I can convince him I'm not a threat." he said with hope, Korra gave him a proud look which Tenzin shared. Lin didn't look pleased but said nothing, as she left to ready a squad of Metalbenders, Arno looked at Korra imploringly. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" he asked honestly.

It felt strange, Arno looking to her for guidance when he had provided so much perspective for Korra, but the Avatar simply nodded at him, "I think so…it doesn't matter if your all human. You taught me that it's the type of person you are, not what you are that defines you." she said, both Arno and Tenzin struck momentarily speechless by the wisdom Korra spoke.

A smile spread across Arno's face, "Thanks Korra. That…..that means a lot." he admitted. As Tenzin and Korra left to find Lin, Arno looked out towards Air Temple Island. _Really hope I'm making the right decision here._ He thought before leaping off into the air, launching himself onto a far off rooftop and then leaping into the Bay towards the island.

* * *

 **Southern Shore of the Earth Kingdom.**

Along the coastline the Earth Kingdom's shore rested a small fishing village, it was tiny in comparison to the other villages yet it made up for it by providing those villages with fresh food almost year-round. Walking down the wooden docks towards the mainland was a middle aged man, he had no hair atop his head but instead was around his scalp which met in front of his face with a pointed beard. He was a simple fisherman, at least that was what everyone in the village was led to believe, who was going to get his morning coffee at the roadside gas station.

It was basically a daily ritual for him, get coffee, get paper, get to work. On his days off he simply stayed at home and read his books, sometimes even pondering making his own but ultimately always deciding against it. Entering the store, he walked over to the counter where the cashier took notice of him, "Morning Vulko." the young man greeted warmly before looking back down at his magazine.

"Loshi." the fisherman greeted as he walked over the coffee pot and fixed himself a cup of the liquid and poured it into a cup. Sealing the lid he walked over to the counter to pay for it, "Could you get me the usual?" he asked, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Loshi nodded, setting his magazine down and reaching for his keys to unlock the paper case. Pulling out the United Nation Gazette, he placed it on the table as Vulko paid for the coffee and paper.

Reaching for the paper as he took a sip of his drink, the man's eyes nearly bulged out of skull and nearly choked on his drink at what was on the front page of the paper. **_'Fabled Aquaman proved real! What do we do now?'_** the newspaper's headline read, with a photo of a blonde young man fighting a man in a black suit with a large helmet. When the cashier looked up from the register Vulko was gone with the paper, his cup of coffee forgotten.

The man ran as fast as he possibly could to his house, the wooden single story building on stilts above the water had been his for five years now, Vulko had made it his home in that time. Shutting the door behind him he pulled the paper out from beneath his arm and read over the article, _'AS though the Equalist Attack on the Pro Bending arena in Republic City wasn't shocking enough, the captive audience, Metalbending Officers, and newsman all witnessed something even more surprising when the fabled Aquaman made an appearance. Though rumors of him being involved with the Equalists have been heard, it was surprising to see him fighting against the terrorist faction along with Avatar Korra.'_

 _'The question on everyone's mind now however is who is the Aquaman? Reaching out to Councilman Tarrlock for comment he replied by saying " This man, if he in fact can even be called that, has been suspected of not only interfearing with Equalist investigations but as well as various acts on the oceans around the world for the past few years. However the real question is should we even allow this Aquaman to live in the United Republic?" _

_'Shortly after, our correspondent at the United Elemental Nations reached out to the defensive branch for comment. So far no official statement has been given regarding Aquaman, however rumors spread that there are plans to bring him in for questioning regarding his intent, biology, sociology, and possible family.'_

Vulko swallowed with the list of questions, folding the paper he rushed through the house to his bedroom. Shutting and locking the door behind him, he peered out his window which faced the pier for any witnesses before drawing the thick blinds shut. Kneeling at his bed he reached under and retrieved a long wooden box which he set out on the bed. On the wooden box's top there was black pad which he pressed his thumb upon, the black surface glowed blue which spread out over the wood and unlocked it.

Opening the chest he pulled out a small device from inside which was about the size and shape of a pocket watch with a blue button in the middle of the circle. Pressing the button, the top unfolded like a flower with the blue circuits inside letting out a glow which converged over the center of the device, making a holographic image appear above the device.

The image was of a circle for a few moments before it suddenly shifted into that of a woman. She had blonde hair that almost looked platinum behind a golden tiara resting across her forehead., the crown itself was designed with the arch extruding out back across her head with the symbol of her kingdom on the middle arch. Vulko bowed in front of the woman on his floor, "My Queen, forgive my sudden intrusion." he apologized.

The royal had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her subject, _"No apologies necessary Vulko. I was just sitting down to write something, why have you called?"_ she asked. The subject of the queen stood and reached for the paper.

"I think…..it's best that you see yourself." he said, holding up the paper, the device scanning and translating the wording and projecting it to the queen. She looked over as another projection of the paper appeared before her.

The royal's eyes widened when she read the headline, her hand reached up towards her face a gasp at what she saw, she was silent as she read the paper before directing her attention to him, her expression soft and almost conveying fear, _'He's…..Vulko you must gather as much information as you can about the situation and return immediately.'_ she said, her soft expression turning serious. Vulko nodded obediently, the queen's face becoming contemplative, _'We're nothing more than a myth to the surface world….but with this…..I always knew that the day would come for us to rise from the sea.'_

The queen's servant looked up, "With….respect your majesty. Are we preparing for war?"

She shook her head immediately, _'No…..even….even if the worse befalls him…..I cannot wage war for the death of one of us…..even if he is my own.'_ she said sadly. _'I shall send someone to retrieve him in the meantime…..in fact I know just who to send.'_ the queen said with a thoughtful expression.

Vulko nodded before the Queen ended the transmission, a shaky breath exited her lips before holding the top of her hand up against them. Stepping away from the large device she walked across floor out of the room before kicking up from the floor and swimming up to the open space of her quarters. A large glass window, looking across her kingdom took up the entirety of the wall in front of her, swimming across the second floor where the entrance to her quarters where, she knocked against the bronze metal.

Within a second the doors slid open with a half dozen guards awaiting her command, "Gather the Elders to meet in a hour, and send for Orm…..I need to talk to him." she ordered. The six nodded before swimming off to fulfil their duties while the queen left her room and quickly swam through the palace at high speeds until she came to the room she was searching for and knocking on the door.

The door opened with the queen's serious expression on the other side, "Mera, I have to ask you to do something for me."

* * *

 **AN: *Holds up shield to stop gunfire***

 **I'M SORRY! I HAD THINGS GOING ON, I GOT DISINTERESTED, I HAD WRITERS BLOCK! FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

 **Alright now that that's over, I seriously am sorry. The reason that this took so long to update was…..honestly I didn't know where to go after last chapter, so after thinking about it I wondered how the bending world would react to someone like Arno being revealed as an real thing and not some sea shanty.**

 **Basically they would react the same way as us, we'd want to capture first and ask questions later. And with how Air Temple Island is part of the Air Nation (and with my political knowledge being based off movies like Argo and such) I figured it would be interesting to put some political stuff in here.**

 **Also I got red dead two and that distracted me for…..ok it's still distracting me but the new Aquaman movie is coming soon and I already got my tickets for it! Honestly I'm excited for it more than the Lion King flick everyone is losing their minds over.**

 **Which reminds me, should we really call it a 'live action movie' when all the characters are made using CGI? That's animation, so basically it's another animated Lion King movie…..only in 3D with high end graphics.**

 **And before it's asked…..my favorite Disney Thing is Kingdom Hearts.**

 **Anyway with my classes ending in two weeks (seriously this semester FLEW by) I'll get more time to work on this hopefully.**

 **Until next time (when SHIT GOES DOWN) guys!**


	5. Chapter 5 (Out of the Past)

**Out of The Past**

* * *

 **(Play Opening Smash into Pieces- Let me be Your Superhero.)**

 **Arno is floating amidst the vast empty ocean with the rays of the sun illuminating the different creatures of the sea as they surrounded him. From behind him the Unagi appeared and its eyes glowed a bright blue. Arno then propels himself forward with a boom in the water holding out his dagger in his hand. A large storm falling upon the ocean.**

 **Arno jumps out of the ocean and into a large pirate ship. As pirates begin to circle around him he sprints into action. With his golden dagger he blocked their blades and countered with a direct jab to the stomach of one of the pirates crashing into more pirates. He then jumps over another group landing behind them. Arno swipes his leg behind them bringing them to the floor.**

 **A row of spears came from behind causing Arno to dodge them and then catch them. He then used the spears to throw the pirates overboard. Just then a pair of red eyes light up from the darkness causing Arno to narrow his eyes. Arno grips his dagger in an iron grip as the storm cleared and the lights of Republic City cut through the darkness. Arno charged as an army of sharks and the Unagi followed him from behind.**

* * *

The day after Arno had found sanctuary on Air Temple Island, a United Forces Frigate was docked in the middle of the bay. It was obvious that it was here solely for Arno, despite the official story being that it was here as a deterrent to the Equalist threat. Watching the ship from the pavilion looking out towards the city, Arno couldn't help but feel guilty for bringing this onto Tenzin's home. Setting his hands down on the railing in front of him he looked down at the ornate wood as he contemplated his situation. Hiroshi was revealed to be the brains behind the Equalist movement, Korra, Tenzin, and Chief Beifong raided the secret base only to be ambushed by Hiroshi and a brigade of upright tanks.

Arno knew for a fact that if he had been there then they could have stopped Hiroshi, and that fact alone frustrated him. "Arno!" the blonde turned his head back to see the three Airbender children zooming in towards him on balls of air. Ikki leapt off her ball and balanced herself onto the railing, "Did you see that ship? Our Uncle Bumi has a ship like that, only it's much, much bigger. Do you have a ship like that?" she asked in her usually rapid succession.

 _Can she talk that fast because she's an airbender? Because that's the only way I can think it's physically possible for her._ The swimmer thought before answering, "No. I don't have a ship Ikki…..I used to want one though." he admitted. Back on Kiyoshi when he was a kid he always wanted a ship of his own. Wouldn't have matter if it was a rowboat he would have loved it. Of course he and his father would never be able to afford one but he would rent one once a year that they would fish out of. _Spirits I would love it if I could go and do that right now._ he thought whimsically.

"I'd want a big ship. With a hot tub, and a chocolate fountain!" she exclaimed excitedly, Arno could only smile at her dream boat while Jinora walked over to the railing and looked out at the ship at well. She looked more curious if anything, Arno was just thankful they didn't know what was really going on, they shouldn't have to worry about something like that. "Oh look!" Ikki suddenly exclaimed, pointing down to the dock of the island where a small vessel was approaching.

It wasn't from the ship, Arno had been watching it for hours now and nothing had come from the ship. Plus with the sheer amount of luggage the boat was carrying he could tell it was Bolin, Mako, and Asami arriving. The kids took off, swirling air scooters into existence from the air before taking off down the path to the dock, normally the blonde would have simply jumped down to the water but with the ship watching the island he didn't want to alarm them and walked instead.

He met up with the new arrivals as they reached the top of the steps from the dock, just as Ikki finished answering questions, "Yes, yes, no, no, yes, three hundred and fifty-two." she answered, causing the four teens to only blink in surprise from her instant answers. 'Oh hi Arno. What took you so long?" she asked, drawing the four's attention to the blonde as he approached them.

"I walked." he answered simply before looking at the others, "The ship give you guys any trouble?" he asked cautiously. There was no way that the United Forces would just let civilians here while he was on the island without asking a ton of questions.

Mako placed a hand on his hip, "They searched our luggage, which took a while, and asked us basically everything we knew about you but nothing that they didn't know." he explained, getting a sideways look from Asami which made the firebender keep his mouth shut while Arno ran his hand through his hair, Mako and Bolin, Asami by extension, knew just as much as anyone else did including him.

"Sorry." was all he could manage to say.

Bolin wrapped his arm around Arno's shoulder, "Eh no problem, you can make it up to us by showing us our rooms." the Earthbender said jovially, the swimmer smiling from the younger brother's enthusiasm.

Arno saw Mako step forward expectantly and nodded, "Alright but gotta warn you guys, walls are paper thin. Literally, they're mad from paper so be careful." he said as he led the brothers in the direction of the boy's dormitory while Ikki led Korra and Asami to the girl's. Entering the living quarters, Arno looked over at Mako, "How are things in the city?" he asked curiously.

The firebender shook his head, "I don't know how many people know about Asami's dad, but you on the other hand are the talk of the town." he said, not entirely surprising Arno. "There were a lot of reporters on the dock, they tried asking us some questions but the police kept them back." the firebender assured.

Arno frowned at the information, no doubt the Equalists also knew he was relegated to the island. But with the United Forces ship in the bay he doubted that they would try attacking, _Or they might attack to just give the United Forces a reason to come over here and hull me away._ he countered as he came to the empty room they set aside for the brothers. "Here you guys are. I know it's not a mansion but it's better than nothing." he provided, sliding the door open for the two.

Bolin rushed into the room with a large smile and leapt onto the bed, "Mine! Dibs!" he called out to his brother, he and Arno couldn't help but smirk at the Earthbender's attitude. Turning over on the mattress, Bolin looked at Arno curiously, "So…..how's it feel being the talk of the town?" he asked, his tone sounding more joking than earnest.

The blonde scratched the back of his head, attention like this was something no one could ever fully prepare for. _It's not everyday that a Frigate arrives just for you after all._ he thought sarcastically. "Depends, are people talking with signs about me being from the water on them?" he asked. Mako and Bolin shared a look which made the blonde blink, "Wait seriously?!"

"Yeah one of them was 'Get back to your pond tadpole.' which I didn't really get. Another one was 'Stay in the Sea where your useful'. And-" Bolin listed off, each one making the crease in Arno's brow heavier and heavier. The younger brother took notice and looked down at his hands whilst playing with his thumbs, "And I think that was all." he finished as Arno ran a hand down his face.

"But not everyone hates you." Mako supplied, "Most of the people were there protesting the fact that the United Forces aren't doing anything about the Equalists." he provided.

The swimmer found some solace with that, and he admittedly was curious as well as to why the United Forces decided to get involved with him as opposed to the real threat. If he thought about it the only reason that there could be was Tarrlock, someone he had never met but saw him as a threat just because he was power hungry, "Are you….you know, worried?" Bolin asked.

Arno gave the Earthbender a sideways look, "I mean…push comes to shove I know you'll be fine but….if it where me? I'd be freaking out." the green-eyed teen admitted.

Arno set his hands against his hips, looking down and finding the hardwood floor interesting at the moment, "Honestly Bolin….I've been afraid of this day for so long but now that it's here…I'm sort of relieved…if that makes sense." he said, trying to explain it the best way he could. Outside of His father, Shin, Sully, and Ming he never truly interacted with people since his father died, he saved people who needed help of course but it was more out of a sense of duty than connection.

But then he met Korra, and she dragged him back to humanity kicking and screaming the night she confronted Amon at the Avatar Aang statue. He couldn't have left her to Amon despite knowing it would lead to this, and looking back on it he would do it again without hesitation.

"Totally makes sense. We would get the same way before a game." Bolin said supportively.

Mako looked blankly at his brother, "You would get the same way before a game. not me." he corrected, the Earthbender pouting at his brother's throwing him under the Satomobile. Arno smiled as the brothers bickered, he slipped out as the two continued their bickering and soon heard what sounded like Mako getting tackled by Bolin from down the hall.

 _Man thank the Spirits I'm an only child._ Arno mused to himself as he made his way down the hall towards the main building.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Location**

When a guard came to Prince Orm's room in the middle of the night, the prince could only sum up his frustration with a single thought, _Someone better be sick or dying or they soon will be._ So it came as a shock when his mother showed him the image of a blonde man around his age with long hair and a beard. "…..is it a surface custom for men to grow their hair out that long?" he asked his mother. His hair wasn't that long, in fact they almost looked like complete opposites except for the hue of their skins. Whereas Arno had blonde hair like their mother, Orm had black which was cut medium length with the top neatly combed over to the left.

Atlanna turned from the window looking over her kingdom, Orm had arrived as soon as he could after being woken up and had spent the past day mulling over the information regarding his half-brother. "If I remember correctly you wanted hair like mine when you were younger." she said with a small smile. Her youngest son rolled his eyes at her joke, clearly unamused, "And the surfacers…it's not so much as custom, as I understood humans are allowed to dress as they wish as long as it's appropriate." she explained as best she could, taking in her own garb. Her blouse was white and tucked into a blue sash around her waist with a blue scale mail armor that reached out to her wrists and collar. Her legs were covered by a pair of white pants with stitching along the sides of her legs with white fins on the back of the calves to assist with swimming.

Orm looked back at the picture being projected from the necklace he wore to small square bubble which formed from the touch of the device around his neck, touching his finger to the shimmer he swiped left to the next article that their spies had found. "Who is the man in the suit he's fighting?" Orm asked, a grimace on his face from the photo showing the man slashing at Arno with a short blade.

Atlanna frowned, turning away fully from the window and walking to her son, they were in a chamber that connected their home to the throne room, it was private and allowed the both of them to talk before going to meet with the council members. "I don't know yet. But Vulko should have information." she assured. She looked at her youngest son with a somber expression, "Orm….it's understandable if you feel…..uncomfortable." she said, trying to find the right words to use. She had told Orm about his elder brother when he turned fourteen, a few years after his own father had died.

She remembered the way his eyes lit up when he found out he had a older brother, but when he discovered that he was 'stranded' on the surface he wanted to ready the entire might of their army to find and rescue him. But as the years passed, Arno became a less talked about subject between them, however when he tapped the necklace he wore and closed the image and bubble he gave her a smile, "I just….it's strange seeing him without meeting him." he explained.

Atlanna smiled at her son before leading him into the throne room, "Hopefully you shall soon. Mera was sent out yesterday, knowing her….I expect you'll meet him soon." she said confidently as they entered the throne room. Entering the room from the right wall, they swam across the long hall to the throne on the far wall, in front of the throne stood eight people and Vulko. They all wore a variety of clothing, the ones from the military wore varied sets of armor to distinguish their legion, while the civilian heads wore more relaxed clothing.

The eight of them bowed as Atlanna and Orm approached, the throne itself was a large, round, cushioned seat with two arms within the cushions. The back of the throne however was made part into the room and wall behind it, with decorative tentacles reaching from the throne to the tapestry of the wall behind it. The stone carvings of the past rulers of their kingdom looking down the walk to the throne, Atlanna took her seat while Orm stood beside her. The hall bedore her was massive with a walkway streaching from before the throne to the towering set of doors a hundred meters away with two dozen pillars on each side of the walkway leading to the throne where subjects of her kingdom floated at.

 _Thank goodness grandfather made this more comfortable during the end of his rule._ Atlanna mused to herself before addressing her council, "At ease everyone." she said, the eight in front of her raising their heads in response to their Queen. She looked at Vulko, "Vulko, what have you learned about the situation with Arno?" she asked directly.

All eyes turned to the spymaster, pressing his own necklace a number of screens appeared showing various articles regarding Arno. "Various news outlets have already heard of what happened, thankfully not a single one has made a serious connection between him and our kingdom, our people, or our culture." he said, the council members and royalty letting out a small collective sigh of relief from the news.

"It goes to show that the air breathers are as idiotic as ever." Commander Murk, the leader of the Men-of-War and frontline of their kingdom's army said snidely. The man was massive in frame, towering a full two feet over the queen herself with his left arm cut off at the forearm and replaced with a large curved hook blade. The right side of his face was scarred from burns which just shoed from beneath his golden helmet which covered his cheeks but left his mouth, eyes, and nose exposed.

He was a warrior in both appearance and profession, yet he still found himself falter when the Queen gave him a pointed look, "Forgive me highness." he said quickly, bowing his head out of respect.

Atlanna brushed it off, "You're not entirely wrong commander, while the general public on the surface don't yet know of our kingdom we can't ignore the possibility that others in the local government aren't considering the possibility." she pointed out. "Not to mention the other Kingdoms as well, however out of all of them we are the most at risk of discovery." she stated. Her kingdom was cloesest to the surface physically, thankfully their depth was still far down enough so that none of the current human submarines could even hope of reaching them.

Rowa, the elder of science with short dark hair, tapped one of the screens and synched it with her own device, "We've intercepted radio and telegrams from the surface. With Vulkos help we decoded it quickly. The governing force of the 'United Forces'-"

"Assuring name." Orm drawled out.

"-has taken interest in Arno and has dispatched one of their generals to apprehend him. Preferably without the use of force." Rowa explained before looking up at her Queen. "However he's apparently thought ahead and has asylum on a small island in the bay of Republic City. From what we can tell he's become close with the Air Nation's councilmen and the Avatar as well." she explained.

Murk let out a short laugh, "Well he's picked the right location. An island of all places, could slip away any time he wanted." he said.

Beside him an slightly older man with short white hair wearing a black and gold uniform cupped his chin. Zeekil Neol, the leader of all military forces outside the front lines asked, "Then why doesn't he? He could simply leave the city into the ocean at any time but instead he stays on land."

Vulko looked at his notes, "From what my spies gathered, he's been swept up into the surfacer's conflict." he explained, tapping his necklace to show the slides relating to the Equalist Movement. "Those who are unable to bend any of the four elements have accused the hierarchy of unjust representation. It's currently led by this man, Amon." he said, a image of the one of the Equalist posters appearing on the screens. "He's been pushing for equal rights for non-benders."

Koah, the elder of law over the kingdom pursed his lips together, "Not the most unreasonable demands. If I recall they made a similar compromise after their century long war regarding the Fire Nation." he said, recalling the documents their spies copied regarding the accords after the war.

"Yes unfortunately their leader wasn't happy with results and began abducting known bender criminals and then stripping them of their bending." Vulko added, causing the group's eyes to instantly widen on the information. Vulko continued, "The reports all coincide with his claims, he's able to strip people of their bending, he preformed it on people at the arena where Arno was fighting this man, Black Manta as he's called." he explained.

Atlanna frowned at the information, regardless of species no one should have something so a part of them stripped away by someone else because they deem it worthy. "He must be against Amon if he's holed up on the island." she stated as she began thinking.

Orm looked the elder scientist, "Rowa, could you possibly send a message to the general stationed at the city? Falsify a order to pull out?" he asked.

The scientist nodded, "It would be easy to, yes."

Koah raised his hand, "If I may, if we make them pull out of the city they'll quickly realize the orders were fake. That will make them ask questions."

"Which could lead them to us." the tallest woman in the room, Carcharodor, the mistress of the fleet finished. Her dreadlocks tied off to the side of her head shook as she nodded in understanding, "It could lead to war in a instant if we intervene now."

Atlanna's brow creased, "The mistress is right….as much as I hate it we cannot act now…..however given how Arno has acted so far we might not need to." she said, causing her son to look at her in bewilderment. "If he simply stays on the island then he's under the Air Nation's jurisdiction. And once Mera reaches there? She'll have him out in no time." she said diplomatically before looking over at Orm. The prince frowned a little but nodded at her reasoning, it made the queen let out a sigh, "So….that brings us to the second part of this meeting….how do we inform the people of this kingdom that my first born heir is from the surface?" she asked.

The room was dead silent until one of the eight raised their hands, a skinny man with a bald head which had tattoos adorning the sides behind his ears. "If I may your majesty?" he asked, Kae was the seneschal of Queen Altanna, meaning he was responsible for the public's general well-being. Taxes, events, scheduling, it all fell on his shoulders. It wasn't the most glorious position but it was the spine of the kingdom in a sense, without it, the entire thing would fall apart. "Vulko sent me some documents about your eldest, before this I mean…and….Vulko?" he asked.

The spymaster didn't fully understand at first but as he pulled up the articles in question he seemed to understand what Kae was getting at, "All these articles talk about how someone, Arno, helped them in dire circumstances." Kae explained, pointing to one he expanded it, "He helped this tanker reach land by pulling it by the anchor and saving the crew." he exemplified before moving onto another, "This one, he found a boat that had been lost at sea for weeks with little food or water and brought them home. He saved a cargo ship that was being attacked by a Unagi, and a week later he saved a family from pirates." he went on.

Atlanna softly smiled with each story, _Arno….gods you have your father's kindness._ she thought wistfully.

"However…this could be used against his image." he added, making Atlanna frown sadly at the true statement. "Arno is…with respect your highness, half surfacer. No matter what we do there will still be discontent about him, the best we can do is draw attention to his heroics and show that he's defending the seas." he explained.

Atlanna sighed, there was no way that they could keep Arno's heritage a secret, she was beloved to her people but Arno being only half of their people…..she could imagine it now. The Half bred of Queen Atlanna, she could see the headlines now, she was proud of Arno and loved him despite the years apart but she knew that he must feel like an outcast, the last thing she wanted was him to feel that here as well. "Well….as the surface dwellers say, let's rip this off like a blood sucking leach." she said dryly.

Orm snorted when he saw the looks the elder's faces from the crude metaphor.

* * *

 **Republic City, City Hall**

Korra was fuming.

Tarrlock played everyone, her, Beifong, even Arno and…she couldn't do anything about it!

She wished she could just water-whip that smug look off his face but with his hand picked man in the chief of police's chair? She doubted she would get out as easy as last time. Tenzin and her watched the councilman walk off the podium as the crowd of reporters began to swam him and Saikan. Tenzin placed calming hand on her shoulder, "Don't let what he said get to you." he said, the Avatar looked over her shoulder at the Airbender imploringly. He called her a half-baked Avatar for her lacking mastery or skill in Airbending.

What infuriated her was that he had a point, an annoying, hurtful, and degrading point. "Excuse me, Avatar Korra, Master Tenzin?" the pair turned to be greeted by a man in a United Forces uniform. He was around the same age as Tenzin, his grey hair shaved close to his head with a small scar along the left side of his chin. He respectfully bowed to the two, "I'm General Kota with the United Forces." he introduced, causing Korra to give him a cautionary look, "I know this isn't the best timing but I was hoping I could discuss the….situation we're currently in with the both of you." he explained gently.

Korra's foul mood brought on by Tarrlock's harsh words did not a even minded Avatar make, however Tenzin's hand on her shoulder eased her tension. "We'll…..listen." she said tersely.

Kota nodded gratefully, "Thank you. Shall we speak somewhere more private? Discussing delicate matters like this out in public don't tend to stay surreptitious for long." he said with a gesture towards the front door of City Hall. Tenzin and Korra fallowed the general inside the building's lobby, which thankfully was empty with the conference taking place outside. "I'll get right to the point, this Arno character is a cause for concern on a global scale." he said curtly.

Korra's eyes narrowed but she tried her best to keep her temper under control, "Even though he's done nothing but try and stop the Equalists, while you've been where exactly?" she snapped harshly. Tenzin gave him a frim look which made the Avatar wince, "I'm sorry, that's-"

"Not uncalled for." Kota stated, surprising the two of them. "Me and a few other generals offered assistance with the Equalist threat, but our concerns were dismissed. By councilman Tarrlock." he said with distain in his voice, Korra and Tenzin both frowned with that information. "But I do, unfortunately, agree with his stance on Arno. He's a entirely different species from us and that fact alone is concerning."

Tenzin held a hand peacefully, "I can understand why other leaders are somewhat worried about Arno, but he has done nothing but help us." he stated firmly.

Kota frowned, "With respect councilman, but we have word that when he first arrived here he simply ignored the Equalists until he decided to insert himself into the conflict." he pointed out with his own pointed tone. "He's helped only by circumstance, he was at the Arena and was swept up in the conflict, he went to converse you Avatar Korra at the monument and the Equalists arrived, and from what I understand he didn't jump into help right away."

Korra frowned at the general, "What's your point?"

"My point is that his interests are his own. Not for the best of everyone like you claim." he stated, "If he wanted to? He could go right out to sea at this very second and not look back. But with you protecting him Councilman, your not only harboring a dangerous, possibly a hostile, person but also abstracting me and my men's job in investigating him." he said sternly. The airbender however stood firm, Korra meanwhile bowed her head. He wasn't wrong either, "I'm not blind, Arno has done more good than harm. But it's the fact that it's what he deems is good when it might not be the same as us. I only ask that we question him to see what his intent is, as well as anything he could tell us regarding his possible race and origins." he explained simply.

Korra and Tenzin shared a glance at the request, it wasn't outlandish and was actually understandable for Kota's point of view. But still this wasn't a decision that they could make for Arno, Tenzin looked at the general, "I'll discuss it with Arno. He's reasonable and will hear you out…..however I do hope you can understand his hesitance."

Kota nodded, "I do…..which is why I want to make this as peaceful as possible. I will be required to being him to the closest United Forces base for questioning, but after that he should be free to do as he pleases if everything goes well." he explained. The general saluted the pair of them before pushing open the double doors the three of them entered through. As he left, Korra lamented on the fact that both her and Arno had been dressed down in a similar way within the same hour.

* * *

 **Air Temple Island**

Tenzin had found Arno sitting at the meditation hut reading a book after returning from the city. He explained his meeting with General Kota as well as what he was asking, leaning against the railing of the gazebo he folded his arms across his chest as the Master Airbender finished explaining everything. "Kota sounds like good man just fallowing his orders." he noticed. From what Lin told him he almost expected a crazed and obsessive military commander but Tenzin's account showed he was simply doing what he believed was right.

Tenzin nodded in agreement, "Yes….unfortunately his orders come from a less than honorable place." he said with distain. Tarrlock's actions of late seemed only to highlight Amon's message about benders, only serving their own needs above everyone else's while disregarding non-bender's needs altogether. "But….I think he means what he says." he added honestly.

The blonde bowed his head slightly in contemplation, he couldn't stay on the island forever and going along with Kota's request and being reasonable could get him out of this situation much faster than waiting out the United Forces. "I'll meet with him tomorrow…me staying here just gives them more reason to suspect the worst. If I talk to them then maybe I can calm things down." he reasoned. He had done enough escalating, since arriving he caught the attention of the Equalists, drew Manta here, and gone public with the United Forces wanting answers.

It was time he started to mend things.

Tenzin gave him a small smile as he nodded, "A wise decision Arno." he said in agreement as the swimmer looked out to the water. Scanning the horizon he caught something out the corner of his eye, Korra was sitting on the cliff looking out to the city with her legs drawn into her chest. She looked outright beaten, Tenzin noticed and let out a sad sigh, "Tarrlock's words cut deep….she's never been good with criticism, mainly because she's rarely received it."

Arno snorted out a dry laugh, "Criticism is a good thing. Tarrlock just wants to bully her to do what he wants…is there anything you can do to him? He could have asked for help at any time from the UF but his damn pride got in the way. And he obviously is pulling the other council members strings." he said bluntly. Tenzin looked ready to protest, however it quickly died with a frown he garnered.

"Unfortunately no. Councilmen are assigned by the nations they represent-"

"Still a stupid idea." Arno interrupted.

Tenzin ran his hand over his bald head, "The idea was Republic City is a place were all are welcome regardless of where they come from. Having councilmembers represent each part of the world to govern the city made sense back in my fathers time." he said, recalling how Aang had explained how the city was ruled without any Kings, Lords, or Chiefs.

Arno frowned, "With respect Tenzin, it sounds like your father thought the city was part of all Nations….that just doesn't work." he said a-matter-of-factly. Tenzin looked at him with a raised brow before Arno continued, "Back on Kiyoshi, I was learning about the world….history I mean. Before the business with Manta and that I was looking into history….figured with my abilities I could search the ocean floor for historical sites or something." he admitted with a sheepish smirk, he figured he might as well use his natural gifts to do something he enjoyed.

"And the one thing that makes Republic City different from every type of nation in recorded history is that it's ruled by four separate sovereign nations by representatives…..honestly it's amazing that the city hasn't torn itself apart sooner." he explained. He was aware that the city had a rough start at first with both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation but it was settled quickly with Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko, but after Avatar Aang died and Firelord Izumi took her place in the Fire Nation, many wondered how Republic City would cope with the loss of it's most influential figures.

Arno thought of how to explain it to the monk, "The Avatar…..well looking back it's almost like their the parent of mankind. Whenever humans don't get something they want, or want more than they should, the Avatar's job is to stop them and reprimand them." he explained. There were many examples of it in history, Kiyoshi with Chin the Conqueror, Roku and Aang with the Fire Nation, and now Korra with the Equalists. "It's a wheel, a cycle, it keeps happening because people just don't learn. Or they do and just accept it." he said pessimistically.

Tenzin was silent as he continued, taking in the swimmer's words. Arno noticed his silence and uncrossed his arms, "I don't know the answer or anything…..but people like Tarrlock? Who want all the power for themselves? They need a punishment, something that will make the next guy or girl who thinks of it think twice." he reasoned.

The Airbender looked down at the ground briefly before looking at Arno, "….when I was boy, my older brother Bumi was always getting into trouble." he began. "Nothing serious, just harmless pranks that father would laugh at even though I didn't find it funny." he explained, frowning a little whilst Arno smirked at the mental image he had of Tenzin as a child. A toddler with a ever present frown came to mind, "And over time they became less funny and more harmful." he said with a drawl. "One day he stopped completely, he would still pull harmless pranks from time to time but never something as bad as they used to be. Years later I asked my father about it and said he sat down with Bumi and told him that his job as the older brother was to lead me and Kya by example….truth be told I think he should have applied it to more than his idea of humor…..but I think of that a lot when I look at my own children."

The Airbender left at that, Arno standing against the wooden railing of the pavilion as he contemplated Tenzin's story. He did what he did because his father instilled a sense of responsibility into him, just as it was his duty to guide ships safely to shore it was Arno's duty to try and keep those on the water safe. More often than not he believed he overstepped his role with getting involved with the Equalists, and with the United Forces now getting involved it only added to those thoughts…but he couldn't just leave when he's already involved.

And Tenzin was right, cooperating with the general could show people that he wasn't against them. Not to mention it could help in the long run. As he left eh pavilion, he missed witnessing Korra shed tears over the harsh words Tarrlock had said to her earlier in the day.

* * *

Arno didn't hear until morning that Korra had formed a new Team Avatar with Bolin, Mako, and Asami. They stopped the Equalist from kidnapping more benders before Tarrlock's Task Force had even been mobilized, now the rational part of Arno saw that this was well intended but crossing Tarrlock could lead to something bad…but it also pissed Tarrlock off to no end so he just told her to be careful. "You know you're welcome to join us. You've been with us since the beginning after all." the Avatar happily offered, her mood much better as compared to yesterday as they took the ferry to the city with Tenzin where the United Forces were waiting for them. A number of soldiers were keeping citizens held back a good fifty feet away, a few camera flashes showed that the press were among the protesters calling for Arno's capture.

The blonde frowned at the number of people who wanted him gone, he knew that people were uneasy about him from what Bolin and Mako said but he didn't expect this. As the ferry docked, Arno got a better look at the general and his men as he approached, they weren't armed with any visible weapons but he noticed how alert that they all were as he stepped off the barge of the small boat onto the dock, "General Kota, I'm here to turn myself over into your custody."

The general smiled appreciatively as he nodded, "Thank you for the cooperation Arno, and call me Kota." he said, holding his hand out to the blonde to shake. The swimmer was slightly taken aback by the kindness the general was showing him, shaking his hand Kota looked over at his men who were awaiting patiently for his order, "My men are here to escort us back to my ship, with the protesters out and so active I wanted to be better safe than sorry." he explained as he looked back over at the crowd of people.

Arno looked over at the men as Kota addressed the other two inhabitants of the island, "Thank you both for helping arrange this….I also heard word that you were responsible for saving some benders from Equalist Capture last night along with some friends." he said hintingly, the Avatar whom was proud of her accomplishment was silent as a guilty look crossed her face and she adverted her gaze to the water whilst Kota chuckled. "I also heard that a certain Task Force leader nearly blew his lid after being upstaged…..keep up the good work Avatar." he praised, making Korra grin triumphantly. The general looked at Arno who nodded at the ready, the six men took their positions around the two and began to escort Arno towards the ship docked a few yards down the dock.

Arno fallowed alongside the general towards the watercraft, Arno glanced over at the crowd of people, "Freaks belong in the Sea! Freaks Belong in the Sea! Freaks belong in the Sea!" the crowd chanted, making Arno frown. He knew that when he was discovered to not be human there would be backlash but he didn't expect something on this scale. When the crowd saw that he was going along with the United Forces towards their ship, applause began to break out from the crowd as they witnessed the Untied Forces take the blonde away from their city.

Kota frowned at the crowd of citizens, looking back at Arno he saw that the blonde kept a stoic face as he fallowed him and his men. "Your handling it well." he noticed.

Arno scoffed, "I've been afraid of this day for a while, honestly I think this could be going much worse." he admitted, causing Kota to let out a snort in bemusement as they walked up the ramp to the ship. Looking around the bow, Arno couldn't help but appreciate the sea craft, "It's a Frigate right?" he asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

Kota smiled as he shook his head, "Close, it's a cruiser. Frigates are smaller and are made for close ship to ship combat." he explained as he led Arno towards the main housing of the ship while the soldiers who were holding back to the protesters returned to their station. As they approached the door to the ship, an officer opened the door and saluted the general, "Ready to depart?" he asked. The officer nodded, younger soldier eyeing Arno suspiciously which Kota noticed, "At ease Captain." he said, giving the man a look as he removed the officer's cap he wore, revealing the black widow's peak he had, "Arno this is Captain Zatsu. My second in command aboard this ship, "He'll escort you to the conference room where we'll go over some preliminary questions before arriving at base." he said.

The blonde nodded in understanding as Zatsu turned around and led the swimmer inside the vessel. Walking down the narrow halls and taking a right down a stairwell, Arno was led to a room with a long wooden table with chairs lined along the sides and at the ends of it. Zatsu gave the blonde a final look as he closed the door behind him, hearing the click of the lock signifying he was now locked inside the room. Arno released a long sigh he had been holding in since he arrived on the shore, "Well…that certainly could have been worse." he said to himself.

Taking a seat in one of the chairs, he rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingers, _Faster we get out to sea the better I'll feel._ he thought as his fingers trailed up to his temple to try and soothe his migraine. He soon after felt the shift in weight, signifying that the ship had departed from the city, a hour later he door was unlocked and Kota entered with his captain right behind him, Arno caught a brief glimpse of two guards outside the door to the room. "We should arrive at the base within the next hour. Until then we can finish a number of prelim questions." he said as he sat down with the notebook her had stashed underneath his arm set out over the table.

Arno nodded, "Aright." he said in agreement as he sat upright in his spot, three seats down from the head of the table where Kota sat with Zatsu standing behind him, Arno took note of how his narrow eyes never left Arno. It was obvious that he didn't trust the blonde whatsoever, but he kept his calm demeanor as Kota asked some standard questions, where he was born and raised, what school he attended, whatever forms of employment he held beforehand, as long as they were questions he could answer he didn't think that things would turn south.

"Are you aware of anyone else who has abilities similar to your own?" Kota asked, Arno mentally cured himself for tempting fate like that.

"No. As far as I know I'm the only one." he said, causing Zatsu's posture to shift slightly which Kota instantly noticed. Arno kept up his stoic appearance, he couldn't tip them off about his mother, as far as they knew from what he's told them he was raised by his father on Kiyoshi Island.

Kota looked down at his notes as the Captain finally spoke, "That seems odd though doesn't it? How is it you're the only one of your kind?" he asked curiously with a tone that was almost mocking. Kota glanced over his shoulder at Zatsu with a sharp look, however he didn't say anything, "A few years ago me and my men were sent to investigate a report of someone fitting your description due to an article published by a Dr. Shin. When we arrived we asked around, your father was Tai Kenji correct?" he asked. Arno bit the inside of his cheek, they knew more than they initially let on and he had walked right into this, he did the only thing he could do, he nodded.

"He died three years ago, after someone broke into your house to study you right?' Zatsu continued. Another nod, "What happened to that man?" he asked.

Arno played coy and shook his head, "I don't know." he lied, the death of Manta's father coming up now wasn't exactly going to help him even if he comes clean about it. Zatsu nodded but clearly didn't believe Arno. As he was about to retort, the entire weight of the room suddenly shifted over towards the bow of the boat, the chairs around the table fell over to the side while Arno steadied himself by grabbing the side of the table. "What the….did we just beach?!" he asked, knowing the feeling of a ship crashing onto a shoreline.

Kota stood from his seat shakily while Zatsu tried to regain his footing, "Couldn't be we're five miles out from land!" he exclaimed before the sound of an explosion rang throughout the ship and the weight once again shifted. Arno looked at Kota then the door to the room, stomping over to the door Zatsu tried to stop him, "Stop! You-" he was interrupted when Arno raised his foot up and smashed it into the door, knocking it off it's metal hinges, "-can't….do….that." Zatsu finished as Kota helped him up. The three exited the room and rushed out into the hall as crewman scrambled down the hall. The captain stopped one of them, "Lieutenant! Status report now!" he said, clearly frustrated.

"I don't know sir! We stopped dead in the water and the stern was just breached! Our Metalbenders and Waterbenders are trying to seal the hole but-" another sudden explosion rocked the ship.

Zatsu looked in the direction of the explosion with a grim expression, "That's near the engine room…." he recognized. His head whipped around to Arno, his face furious, "What have you done!?" he demanded, taking step towards the blonde whom was ready to defend himself with how his fists clenched shut. Kota stepped between them both, stopping them both from a pointless confrontation and staring into Zatsu's eyes with a stern warning behind his own. The captain stepped back, "I need to get to my men, if the engines go we'll be dead in the water."

"And if the hole is unattended we'll sink." Arno rebuked, "Go check out the hole, I'll secure the engines." he said, stepping around Kota and Zatsu before running down the hall towards where the explosion came from. If they were five miles out from land as Zatsu said then they weren't in real danger if they got to the life boats. However if those where sabotaged then he would have to take every crewman to shore in groups at a time, and that could take until nightfall.

 _It's got to be Manta, he's the only one with the skills to sabotage a ship like this. Hell he's done it before._ he thought, skidding into as he tried to turn a corner to quickly. Taking his knife out of his sheathe as he reached the door to the engine room. Kicking the door down again, which he thought was completely necessary, he stepped into the compartment to see….not Manta?

Below the staircase he was on were six figures wearing red armor that was made of some sort of metal, there were fins on the forearms and back of their legs that resembled the kind that fish used to swim. Their helmets also had fins around the head that folded back along the head to the back where a tube connected to their backs. However what was the most strange was both he fact that they had a strange visor that glowed blue, with a similar glow coming from the inside of their wrists and on their torsos as well.

The second thing of note were the strange weapons that they had, looking like some strange sort of mobile cannons that were longer than their arms and required both hands to weild, one of them on the barrel and the other holding the grip and trigger. Which were also pointed at Arno. Arno dove forward as blue blasts of energy fired at the doorway, singeing the frame as he landed on the door he kicked off the hinges and rolled off it. grabbing the frame he sat up onto his knee and threw the door into one of the attackers, bashing him against one of the ship's engines.

 _Ok not Manta._ the blonde thought as one chaged at him, swinging his weapon like a club and cracking Arno across the jaw, _That…hurt?_ he thought with surprise. As the solider sung it back Arno grabbed it by the barrel and slashed his knife across the soldier's abdomen, the blade cutting through the metal and water spilling out of the suit. Arno's eyes widened as he pushed the weapon aside as the soldier tried to contain the water. "Y…..your like me?" he asked.

He suddenly felt a burning pain on his shoulder, falling onto his knees he looked back to see one of the other soldiers aiming their weapon at him, **"Death to the half breed!"** he proclaimed with pride as he aimed his weapon at Arno's temple. Before he could fire the swimmer kicked his foot up to the bottom of the weapon as he fired, making him shoot his wounded companion as Arno pushed himself back up and drove his fist into the helmet, the force knocking the soldier across the engine room into the stairs and denting them.

As he begun to stand up, Arno threw his knife across the room and stuck his hand into the metal, making the soldier yell in pain as he clutched his now bleeding hand. "Just stop! Alright! I don't want to fight you guys! Girls? Whatever!" he decided.

The remaining three fired upon Arno, rolling across the floor to the first one he took care of he grabbed the door to the room and held it up to use as a shield. The three unloaded on the door, a few shots piercing through the metal. Standing up with the door blocking the rounds from the three remaining soldiers he pushed forward, "Please! I just want some answers!" he called out over the sound of the shots hitting the door and their weapons firing. Whatever desire he had to fight was gone and was now replaced with unlimited questions, never mind the fact that they were shooting at him he needed answers!

As he continued forward the soldiers backed away towards the breach in the floor that was their entrance to the ship before suddenly stopping their fire and diving down through the hole that was filling the compartment with water, tossing the door aside Arno readied to dive in after them when he heard a beeping noise. Looking over at the source he saw a small, blue orb was placed on the engine before the fight even started and the red dot in the middle was slowly filling the circle. _That's bad._ he thought.

Looking over at the three soldiers whom he incapacitated, he looked back up at the door he came from. He couldn't let them get captured, or worse yet killed by their own explosive. Running over to the man he had hit the door with, he picked him up over his shoulder and then grabbed the one whose suit was leaking water and dropped them through the hole in the hull of the ship.

He then turned to one struggling to get his knife out of his hand, and the beeping was getting faster, "Relax, relax!" Arno said, kneeling down beside the soldier, grabbing his arm at he wrist with the blade in the hand with his own and grabbed the blade as well before pushing down on the hand and wrist and yanking the blade free, **"AUGH!"** he yelled in pain. The device's noise became even faster as the solider held his bleeding hand while Arno moved to his side and looped his arm over his shoulder, **"You….your saving me?"** he asked in disbelief as they made their way to the hole in the sub.

The beeping was getting more rapid as they reached the hole in the ship, each step seemed to make the beeping louder before it was suddenly replaced with a eardrum shattering **KABOOM!**

The two were blasted through the hull of the ship and into the water, with the blonde slowly sinking into the watery depths with blood leaking from the burns on his back due to the explosion. Yet Arno still held onto his consciousness as he sank, despite the pain that covered his back he held on. His answers he's been searching for all his life were just within reach now, after everything he endured and the only thing they wanted was to kill him. The irony was not lost on him, _Oh yeah, not to mention they sink a United Forces ship to get to me, so even if I survive this, gonna need to explain that…..if being the key word._ he thought drowsily as he struggled to keep his eyes open

One of the soldiers swam beneath him, the weapon pointed directly at his face, the hum of the weapon reverberated through the water, before he could fire however the one whose hand was bleeding grabbed the weapon and lowered it, **"Wait! He saved me! If it wasn't for him I would have been caught in the blast."** he exclaimed to the other soldier who yanked his weapon out of his grasp.

 **"It doesn't matter! Our orders are to kill the bastard and any who oppose us, so stand down or you'll share his fate."** the one with the weapon growled out from beneath his visor to the wounded comrade. The former backed away, looking between Arno and his commander he turned aside and swam away, leaving the commander to determine the blonde's fate himself. rising the weapon, Arno stared back at his visor as the barrel was aimed at his face. Before the trigger could be pulled however Arno felt a shift in the water, not like another sea creature was moving through it but similar to how Waterbenders pulled the Water, only it was more….swift.

Before either realized it, a thin blade of bright blue water sliced the weapon in half along with he commander's hands! **"AGGGHHHHHH!"** he yelled in pain as the remaining three soldiers rushed over to investigate as Arno continued to sink. Arno managed to turn himself over as he slowly fell and saw a figure against the light above barrel towards the other water breathers, watching as a tendril of hard water shot directly at one of the soldiers, impaling straight through him and killing him, his blood blossoming in the water as the last one continued to fire at the figure. They raised their hand and the water in front of them became a shield, blocking the shots before turning it around vertically so the edge was sent hurdling through the water and cut through the solider straight down the middle of his body.

Arno's eyes widened when he saw the figure's head turn to look at him, _Swim, swim, swim, swim!_ he thought in a panic, turning around in the sea and taking off through the water with a shockwave rippling through the water around him with a trail of his own blood behind him. Pain spiked over his back threw him off course, clipping the edge of a large rock and skidding across the rough surface. Looking back the way he came he saw the figure closing in on him, _Ok first Manta, now water people, now this guy? If I somehow survive this shit I'm moving to a mountain or something._ he thought as he the figure got closer. As they closed in he noticed something, they were thin, meaning they weren't wearing suits like the others, meaning they must need water! _Alright shoreline don't fail me now._ h thought, planting his feet against the rock and kicking off the stone with all his might, cracking the part of rock he launched from with how much force he put into it as he rocketed up towards the surface of the water.

With a swipe of his arms his speed only increased, as he began to near the surface however he failed to notice the blue tendrils of water wrap around his legs and pull him down, slowing him to a stop to his surprise. He leaned down to try and free himself only for the burns on his back to flare up from the movement. He hissed out in pain as his vision once again became cloudy. He had been hurt before nothing like this in his entire life, the tendrils gently pulled him down as he writhed in pain from his back. Sucking in air through his teeth he shut his eyes, he just wanted it to stop, everything for just one minute. The pain, the questions, the adrenaline pumping through him, for god's sake his headache still persisted even after all this!

But then….it did, the tendrils around his legs disappeared, and the pain on his back was replaced with a soothing sensation as blue water glowed against his wounds. His muscles relaxed and he finally opened his eyes, "Shhh, it's ok….your safe." a soft voice said calmly. Despite the intentions this did the exact opposite since he was still underwater and heard it, turning to the source he was….stunned. Floating in front of him in the water was…..he could only describe her as a goddess, his vision began to fade again.

This time however it was peacefully, his pain now subsided and his fatigue taking him.

* * *

 **AN: God damn this took a while! Part of me wanted to see how the movie portrayed Atlantis and the technology, culture, and etc. they had. First off, James Wan? Put him in charge of the DCEU right now! Right now! This movie was awesome! The best DC movie I've seen since the Dark Knight. The story was great, the action was fucking phenomenal, and the cast was perfect! And the effects? This movie deserves a nomination for the effects, maybe not an award but defiantly a nom.**

 **Now next chapter? That's the end of this season, next chapter should wrap up book 1. After that will be book 2 of course and…..well you'll see what goes on there.**

 **Until then, sorry this took so long, happy new year and holidays and hopefully I'll see you all very soon!**


	6. Chapter 6 (Put to Rest)

**Put to Rest**

* * *

 **(Play Opening Smash into Pieces- Let me be Your Superhero.)**

 **Arno is floating amidst the vast empty ocean with the rays of the sun illuminating the different creatures of the sea as they surrounded him. From behind him the Unagi appeared and its eyes glowed a bright blue. Arno then propels himself forward with a boom in the water holding out his dagger in his hand. A large storm falling upon the ocean.**

 **Arno jumps out of the ocean and into a large pirate ship. As pirates begin to circle around him he sprints into action. With his golden dagger he blocked their blades and countered with a direct jab to the stomach of one of the pirates crashing into more pirates. He then jumps over another group landing behind them. Arno swipes his leg behind them bringing them to the floor.**

 **A row of spears came from behind causing Arno to dodge them and then catch them. He then used the spears to throw the pirates overboard. Just then a pair of red eyes light up from the darkness causing Arno to narrow his eyes. Arno grips his dagger in an iron grip as the storm cleared and the lights of Republic City cut through the darkness. Arno charged as an army of sharks and the Unagi followed him from behind.**

* * *

Arno's eyes creaked open as he regained consciousness, he immediately realized a few things. Firstly was that he was still underwater and the light of the rising sun shone down through the water, thankfully his eyes adjusted right away and could easily see within the darkness. Secondly he wasn't near the surface of the water, he was on the sea floor laying in what felt almost like a bed. Turning his hand over he felt a pile of something soft cushioning him. Third was that his tattered remains of his shirt were gone, and the pain he felt on his back was absent as well.

Sitting up from his makeshift bed, he reached over his shoulder and found that the burns on his back were healed. "What the hell?" he asked, he knew he healed fast but something like those burns would take a few days at least. As a clown fish swam by, it looked at Arno, looking down at what he was laying on he saw it was a an large yellow anemone, it's soft flanges that would cause a painful sting to most sea creatures didn't harm him in the slightest. Arno looked at the small orange and white fish with a smile, "This your spot?" he asked jokingly.

"It was, but he was happy to let you use it." Arno jumped at the feminine voice and looked behind him. Once again he was struck by just how gorgeous she was, her blurry visage from before he lost consciousness did not do her any credit. She was beautiful, her face heart shaped with perfect red lips and stunningly deep blue eyes which currently glowed brightly with power, the glow receded showing that her true eyes were a…less intense shade of blue. She had long, flowing, bright red hair that went down past her shoulders and upper back, it made his look short by comparison. Her figure was eye catching because it was so…on display, proportions like a curvy hourglass, a skin tight green outfit covered her body from around the back of her neck and to the arcs of her feet with her toes and soles poking out of the green material that resembled some sort of old armor that used scales.

Upon her strong, bare arms were a set of golden gauntlets with fins jetting out back down her arms, similar to what the soldiers before had, the front of her outfit was a little…..scandalous, showing off the skin of her cleavage and upper torso while also leaving less to the imagination similar to how a bathing suit would be. Swallowing the lump that formed within his throat, "Who…..who are you?" he asked almost timidly, the last people who could breathe underwater like him tried to kill him. So being cautious around others like him seemed to be a valid response.

The redhead landed onto the seabed before giving a slight bow of her head, "My name is Y'Mera Xebella Challa." she introduced, she watched as Arno paused to completely digest that name, trying to silently pronounce it himself. The woman's lips curled a little as he tried to properly pronounce it, "Call me Mera, much easier to say and actually possible to pronounce." she added dismissively with a wave of her hand.

"I didn't want to be rude." Arno said sheepishly, "But better question how are you…..like me? And why were those guys trying to kill me? And why did one call me a half breed?!" he asked, his voice slightly raising in pitch with each question, suddenly the memory of her completely butchering the soldiers came to mind as though to remind him that despite her visage this woman was dangerous. "I…I'm sorry I just…you're the first person I've met whose….like me and your actually answering my questions…..and not tried to kill me." he apologized, breaking his gaze from her eyes to look down at the seabed.

Mera however was calm as she approached him and knelt down in front of him, "Arno it's fine….I'm surprised that your father never told you about…where your mother came from." she said, trying to be delicate with her wording. Arno's eyes shot wide open, looking up at her with disbelief, shock, and awe. She realized what that look meant right away, "He….he did tell you? But then why would you stay up here?" she asked as the blonde raised a hand to his head.

It was real, Atlantis, it was a honest to Spirits real place, with people! And his mother….she was….she was- _I….I can't breathe…I can't-_ "I'm sorry." Arno said before launching himself upward, much to Mera's shock. She quickly took off through the sea after him, she had never seen someone swim as fast as Arno except maybe his mother. Ahead of her, Arno skimmed beneath the surface of the water before swooping down and bursting up through the surface of the water, flying through the air and landing upon the shoreline.

Taking a deep breath of air, he let out a shaky breath. _My mother is alive….Atlantis is real…..oh Spirits dad I'm so sorry._ he thought mournfully. He had thought for years now that his father, on what turned out to be his deathbed, was babbling nonsense from a hazed mixture of medication and suffering from a heart attack. But instead of fevered dreams he experienced he was telling Arno the truth and he just….didn't believe him. He said as much to Korra and Tenzin, he only humored Shin's questions because it might have been on the path but….. _Dad…..please forgive me._ he thought, falling onto his knees, sinking into the sand a little.

Mera emerged from the shoreline behind him, part of her was irritated with how he had taken off but when she walked onto shore and found Arno on his knees…she didn't feel so mad. She stood on the shore, the waves washing over her feet for minutes as she watched Arno. Atlanna warned her that he might be shocked about learning she was alive, let alone that Atlantis was a reality and not some myth from the surface…..but from how he was taking it she could only guess what he knew.

Finally she stepped onto the beach fully, water dripping off her as she approached the sorrowful blonde. Tentatively she reached her hand out and placed it upon his shoulder, "This must be a lot to take in….." she trailed off. She couldn't even try to imagine what the prince has gone through but finding out a truth like this, she could hardly even comprehend what it would be like to learn something she had known for as long as she could remember.

Looking over his shoulder at Mera, there was only one question he could ask, "Do you know my mother?"

She was taken aback by that being his first question, however her smile was soft as she nodded, "Her name is Atlanna." she revealed, Arno smiled at her name before chuckling. Mera gave him a confused look, "What?" she questioned as he sat and turned on the shifting ground to face her.

"My dad told me that her family had this tradition, the first born kid has to have their name start with 'A' for good luck…..I always thought it was kind of weird but….." his somber smile made the redhead share her own as she too sat down on the sand. She watched as his smile soon faded away and his look became thoughtful, "Those men, they called me half-breed….I'm guessing it's frowned upon to have children with people up here?" he asked. Mera pursed her lips at his astuteness to his situation, she nodded, "But why? I mean…we're all people." he asked.

Mera scoffed, "I wouldn't go that far." she said dismissively, taking Arno by surprise. She caught his unexpected expression and explained, "Just because we live beneath the waters doesn't mean we are blind to what goes on up here. The Fire Nation's ego caused a genocide of a entire nation with only few surviving members left by a miracle of a chance." she understated. Arno couldn't ague that point, "And before that, one of the Avatars made their own island, devastating the ecosystem of the sea life for generations. Not to mention what their cities have done to the sea." she pointed out distastefully.

"Um…..I grew up on that island." Arno replied uneasily, Mera gave him a weary look at his defense, "Well how would you like it if I dissed Atlantis?" he asked.

Mera smirked to herself, "You can diss Atlantis all you want. I'm not from there." she explained, causing Arno's eyes to once again widen. The non-Atlantean looked at him amusingly, "Atlantis where I live but not where I came from. I'm from Xebel, it's another Kingdom." she explained, Arno seemed to be blown away by the information. He never actually considered that Atlantis wasn't the only sunken Kingdom. Mera saw his bewildered expression, having prepared for this possibility she reached her hand out to the water, her eyes glowing blue as the wave that came in floated over to her. "You see Arno, Atlantis ruled over four other Kingdoms." she explained as the water formed a rough image of a map of the world with the water representing seas and the empty spaces standing in for landmasses.

"They were all part of Atlantis before it fell to the seas." she began, five spots in the seas glowing blue on the map, "But when our civilization fell, five of our kingdoms rose. Atlantis is the capital of all our kingdoms-" a spot in the ocean where he and Shin mused it would be lit up. "-Xebel, my Kingdom is near the North Pole. We've trained and learned from mystic arts." she said with a hint of pride in her voice.

The word Mystic made him skeptical, however the glow of her eyes and how she manipulated the water? He had never seen any waterbending like that in his life. "Is that how you Waterbend like that? I've never seen such….control." he asked, marveling at what Mera could do. Waterbending compared to this seemed so…..simple, it was like comparing a five year old's finger painting to that of an artist's work.

Mera smiled at his compliment, "It's not waterbending, we refer to it as hydro-kinesis. We don't simply bend the water, we control it." she explained, looking at the water she was using with pride in her eyes. The sea between the Northern Earth Kingdom and the North Pole was highlighted next, "Xebel is where Atlantis studied the mystic arts. Where benders were content with the four elements we looked the more spiritual energies that world provides. And how to use them similar to how the nations use the four elements." she explained.

Arno looked at the map with confusion, "But wait you said you live in Atlantis, why aren't you at Xebel?" he asked curiously. It was such a minor question yet Mera seemed to be taken completely off guard by it.

"As Princess of Xebel I serve the queen of Atlantis, I've known her since I was teenager-" she stopped upon realizing that she let slip that she was the Princess of a Kingdom. When Atlanna asked her to find Arno, she knew that he would have questions and she was prepared to answer most of them. She had rehearsed what he might ask first and how to respond but she let it slip so casually, _Ohhhhhhhhh shit._ she cursed herself when Arno's mouth hung open.

"Y-you're a Princess!?" he asked in disbelief, "Sh-should I bow? Wait do we even bow? Or do we salute?" he asked quickly. Korra and Tenzin were probably the only people he met who could have a similar distinction, however while Korra held her title with pride she wasn't demanding or snobby when it came to how she was addressed by him. And Tenzin he referred to because he preferred it.

Mera despite her blunder had to try not to laugh at how suddenly panicked Arno became amused, "You don't need to bow. We do but your entitled to a pass….this time." she replied, a hind of playfulness in her voice. "But yes, I serve the Queen of Atlantis. My father entrusted me to her so I may learn how a true Queen rules the Kingdom." she clarified, her voice soft with a small smile tugging at her lips. Arno found it a little strange, most royals taught their own children how to lead by observing their own King and Queen. But then again the only royal lines in the world were the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, one being fairly xenophobic and the other known for controlling with an iron fist. Cooperation, let alone a trust of that level with another's heir was unlikely at best.

"What about the other Kingdoms?" he asked inquisitively, Mera's content demeanor shifted to a more disconcerted one. "Sorry I just…..I have so much to learn….." he admitted somewhat sheepishly. "I've…..all I knew about me was what I found out on my own with help from my father and a friend…I thought I was alone for the longest time and now….." he gestured to her with a slight gesture of his hand, "I'm talking to someone like me…..a princesses for spirits sake…."

Mera was quiet, her still shining blue eyes observing him as he confessed to her. She suddenly sighed, "I can't imagine that…..that sounds awful." she sympathized.

Yet Arno shook his head, a fond smile crossing his face, "It sounds like it but…..no, I had my father…..my friends from the Island I grew up on….and even the Avatar and others I've met recently…..and they've done a lot of good for me." he acknowledged proudly. Mera though didn't seem either impressed or convinced, "Trust me, when you feel like your alone in the world…..one person just taking interest in you can help." he said wistfully. He shook his head as he dismissed those thoughts, "I'm sorry, I got off track, what about the other kingdoms?"

Mera refocused her attention, "R-right. The other Kingdoms are Triton, when Atlantis sank they embraced their new life at sea. Their bodies even adapting to the water in more…..diverse ways than the others." she explained, the water highlighting the Sea North of the Southern WaterTribe before splitting and reforming into a trio of forms. One was a humanoid with fins on their arms and legs, the second had a female's torso with a lower half resembling that of a dolphin-fly. The third and final was huge in comparison to the others, it's body was humanoid but the shape and size of it was like of a man had a kid with a shark, it's head having a fin atop it with it's snout matching.

"They're a simple people, but they face a harsh stigma due to their appearance." Mera said distastefully. Triton was nicknamed the 'Fishman Kingdom' by citizens and nobles alike. She personally found it deplorable, they were all one people and something as trivial as appearance shouldn't divide them.

Arno didn't seem surprised, "Well that's one thing the surface and Sea have in common. 'You're different? I hate you.'." he said sarcastically. Mera's lips twitched at his remark but continued onto the other Kingdom located to the West of the Fire Nation.

"And Finally there is the Melath Kingdom, it is here where technology for all the Kingdoms are made. From simple devices like our Unity Clips-" she gestured down to the metal clip just above her pelvis, the symbol identical to the one on the hilt of Arno's blade. "-to weapons like the plasma rifles the soldiers you fought used." she added, looking out to the ocean. She had gathered the weapons from the corpses and destroyed them, by now the predators of the sea would have taken care of the bodies, leaving no trace of any Atlanteans.

"Which leads me to my next question, why were they trying to kill me?" Arno asked as Mera released her hold on the water, her eyes no longer glowing as the water fell onto the sand between them.

Mera knew this part would most likely be the hardest to hear, "Arno…..your mother, Atlanna…..she is Queen of Atlantis." she said slowly as she could. Arno's curious visage slowly faded away and was replaced with one of bewilderment, for a second Mera thought he was going to take off again but instead it seemed that this revelation paralyzed him.

 _My mother's a….a Queen….that…..that makes me a…..but…..I….._ "I'm a…a prince?" he asked, stunned by the information. Mera slowly nodded, making Arno swallow the huge lump that formed in his throat. "So…..my mother is alive…Atlantis is real and thriving….and my mom is the Queen of the Seas." he repeated. He looked at the redhead with and off putted look, almost looking scared for whatever else he would discover. "Anything else?!" he asked loudly with his voice raising in pitch.

Mera's first instinct was to snort at how his voice suddenly became higher but thankfully didn't, _Ok well better be like a leech and rip it off._ "You have a half-brother." she quickly added.

Arno fell back onto the sand, his hands covering his face, "Of course I do!" he yelled out, his words muffled from his hands. Mera couldn't help but chortle a little, the prince of Atlantis was having….whatever this was and it was honestly a little funny to witness. Slowly dragging his hands away from his face, Arno let that information sink before releasing a chuckled, "I….I always wanted a brother…." he admitted happily. The Xebel princesses giggled back, Arno's questions increased tenfold about his brother, did he look like him? Was he younger or older? What was he like? But before he could ask any of them it dawned on him…he could see for himself. "I feel…..I feel like I'm dreaming." he admitted.

Mera smiled at the comparison, "I can understand. I can't imagine what being forced to live up here would be like." she said, looking around the small island they had occupied. Granted it was a small sandbar poking out from the water with but a few palm trees sprouting out of the sand, but she was not blind to how the rest of the world was.

Arno however was more taken aback by her comment than anything, "I mean it's not perfect up here but…I still like it." he admitted, his hand reaching down to the sand and running his wet hand across the tiny rocks. He hadn't been on a beach in months, not a proper one anyway, and he missed the feeling of sand between his toes.

The princess looked baffled by his confession, "What? How? The people up here? All that they care for is greed and power, they even forced you to surrender to their army." she pointed out.

That sentence made something click in Arnos' head, "Wait! The ship!" he stood up from the sand, looking around for any sign of it, "It sank! What about survivors? Is everyone ok?" he asked Mera. In his rush for answers to learn more about himself he had completely forgotten about General Kota and his ship!

The redhead was even more shocked that he was asking the questions in the first place, "Why do you care?" she asked as she stood up as well, making Arno stare at her, "They're not your people Arno, they certainly don't care for you so why should you care for them?" she asked, rising a brow at him in confusion. He opened his mouth to retort but he slowly closed it, "Arno, I came here to bring you back to Atlantis. Back to your family…..forget the surface….it's time to bring you home." she said, her hand reaching out to his shoulder. Arno looked her dead in the eyes, they looked back at him sympathetically, as though he had been subjected to horrors unimaginable.

Reaching up he took her hand, "Mera…..I want to….more than anything…..but I can't…not now anyway." he told her, surprising Mera as he dropped her hand. "My father….my human father, he was lighthouse keeper. His job was to lead the ships on the water safely to shore….he was proud of what he did but I didn't get why for the longest time but…..it's about responsibility. My mom came from the sea…..but I was raised on the land….they're both my responsibility." he said with a sincerity to his voice that surprised Mera. Seeing the expression on the redhead's face Arno rubbed the back of his neck, "I know that might not make much sense but…I got friends back in Republic City, and they need my help…..and I hope you can understand that."

He watched as Mera's shocked face gave way and she looked at him oddly, "No I do…..but I've never met an Atlantean who tolerated surface people. Let alone wanted to help them." she admitted. Looking at Arno she could tell there was no dissuading him, the resolute he held plain on his face. The newly discovered prince waited for Mera's response, waiting as she looked over him before letting out a sigh with a small smile from the blonde's passion, "Well…..I can't stop you. But I also can't help you." she stated firmly, the small smile vanishing. "Atlantis cannot risk being discovered by the surface, they haven't connected you to it as of yet but if I show up with you? Then people will start asking the right questions."

Arno nodded, "I understand." he said, walking past her towards the water. Just before he reached the waves however he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Mera who watched him like a hawk, "Thank you for saving my life, Princess Y'Mera Xebella Challa." he said respectfully, clasping his fist against his palm in front of his chest before bowing in front of her. The Xebel princess was taken aback, both by the fact he had correctly pronounced her name and that he was humble enough to be grateful, a smile crossed her face before she returned the gesture, mimicking the surface way of bowing before they both looked back at one another.

Their eyes met, and despite herself Mera felt her throat become dry as he dove into the water and took off beneath the waves. She summed it up to being on the surface too long.

* * *

It took a half hour for Arno to get his barring correct and head towards Republic city, and about another hour for him to reach the Yue Bay.

But the sight of airships bearing the Equalist Logo on the side of them flying over the city didn't bode well. _Shit! Amon must have just started the attack._ The prince reasoned when he saw the smoke clouds bellowing from the City. As he sped towards the city however he saw one of the Airships above was heading on a direct course for Air Temple Island, _Amon must be going after Tenzin and his family, if he gets them then that could be the end of the Airbenders!_ he realized, making a U turn in the water to swim back towards the island.

Swooping down towards the bottom of the Bay he turned back upward at an angle towards the island, shooting out of the water and into the air Arno braced himself for landing. Hitting the stone ground of the temple's main ground and rolling onto a knee before standing up…..right in front of a group of white Lotus Guards and Chief BeiFong. "Wha-where did-" Lin began before shaking her head, "Doesn't matter, can you fight?" she asked. Arno answered her by reaching back and pulling out his knife and holding it in reverse. Lin nodded sternly, "Good. Korra and the others went to find Tenzin in the City, and Pema's having kid right tight now!" she explained.

Arno started at her then glanced at the house, he could just hear Pema screaming out in bursts, "You know on any other day that would surprise me." he replied dryly as he looked up at the Airship, two cables fired down towards the lower level of the stairs leading up to the front of the house where they were. "Alright we gotta hold these asshats off until Pema is ok to move." he started, seeing the Equalists use the lines from the Harpoons as ziplines and landing on the island in squads at a time.

"I know." Lin said sharply, the White Lotus Guards got into position around her and Arno. When the first of the Equalists reached the top of the steps the White Lotus attacked first, using fire, water, and Earthbending to try and subdue them but to no avail, the Equalists weaved around the attack of the Earthbender, only for Lin to send a large stone to him in midair.

One of them got behind the firebender guard, before they could block their chi however, Arno slammed his fist into he side of their head, knocking them out cold before they even hit the ground. "Everyone pair up! They can only focus on one target at a time!" Arno yelled out over the fighting as another charged at him, this one wearing a glove like the ones at the arena and palmed the blonde in the chest. The electric current ran through Arno, the Atlantean gritting his teeth from the stinging pain before jabbing him quickly in the gut, making him release the swimmer before Arno's blade came down on the back of his shoulder. The man yelled in pain before Arno lifted his knee into his face.

Out the corner of his eye he saw Lin use her cables to dispatch two more Equalists, he also saw that a few of the Guards had been defeated by the Equalists and they were now charging towards him. "Guards fall back! Make sure the Airbenders are safe!" he yelled out as one of the firebenders swept low to make a wave of fire for the Equalist to leap over then for the Waterbender to attack in midair. They looked over at Arno like he was crazy just as he charged at a trio of Equalists, slashing his knife against one as he threw his elbow back into another that tried to get around his flank and headbutting the third one. Arno turned back at them before pointing at the building, "Well move your asses! Go!" he ordered.

The two guards nodded as they rushed off to guard Pema and the kids with the other remaining guard, leaving Arno and Lin to face down the next wave. "You should head back too. I can deal with these guys." he told her, Lin gave him a defiant look but Arno met it with his own, "Worst comes to worst you can sneak them out while I draw the Equalists to me." he reasoned. Lin glanced between him and the Equalists before nodding in agreement and falling back to the house while Arno faced down the staircase as the next wave of Equalists, led by Amon's second in command.

Arno let out a chuckle, _Well Ming did describe him as the Mustache guy._ he thought as the Lieutenant pulled out his electrically charged batons and charged with the six other Equalists fallowing behind him. _Well better them than Manta._ Arno thought before leaping across the square, catching the Equalists off guard as he landed right in front of them, slashing his knife at the Lt.

He wan' aiming for anything vital but it did make the second in command put distance between them as one of the Equalists flipped into the air and brought his foot down towards Arno, only for the blond to grab it in midair and slam him down int the ground and throw him at another Equalist and into a tree. The prince felt a quick series of soft Jabs hot his side, he threw his elbow back as he pivoted, the Equalist dodging under only for Arno's other fist to crash into his face.

The Lieutenant took the open to rush behind Arno and strike him with his batons, sending surges of electric shocks into the Atlantean, Arno raised his forearms to block the strikes, the electricity stung but didn't leave any serious damage. Arno parried one of the batons with his knife and elbowed the Lt's face, stepping back he kicked his other leg out into the Equalist commander's chest, kicking him off over the staircase. The remaining four Equalists all charged at once, Arno once again leapt forth, driving his knee into the chin of one of them as he threw his knife into another's leg.

The last two came at him from either side, attacking every chi point that they knew of and to their credit they brought Arno down onto a knee with a strong jab to the back of his leg. They continued their attack until Arno grabbed both of them by their outstretched hands and slammed them together as he stood back up. Holding his arm out he swung his arm out int the both f their heads, clotheslining the both of them at once before dropping his knee down onto one and his elbow down onto another. Standing up from the last two Equalists, Arno let out a quick huff of air, "Good fight guys, good fight." he said, a little out of breath as he turned his attention to the airship.

Leaping down the staircase to where the harpoons were embedded to the ground, he grabbed one of the anchors and pulled it free of the stone. Hoisting them over his shoulders he looked out to the bay before taking a few steps back and getting a good grip on the steel rods before getting a running start and throwing it out to the water, the force from the two lines pulling the ship causing it to turn towards the direction the harpoons where thrown. "Equalists dealt with, Reinforcements cut off. Thank you Sun Tsu." he said gratefully as he jumped back up the steps of the temple.

As he approached the house to tell Lin that it was safe, the roar of a sky bison made him stop in his tracks. Turning around he saw the large animal land in the Square with Korra, Bolin, Mako, Asami, and Tenzin climbing off, "Arno!?" the group collectively exclaimed before being rushed by Bolin of all people. "Oh thank goodness! We heard that the ship you went on went down, I mean I guess that wouldn't be a problem for you, you know, water breathing and all? But we were still worried and why aren't you wearing a shirt?" he asked, pulling away from his embrace somewhat awkwardly.

Arno chuckled at his friend, "Good to see you too Bolin." he said happily before Tenzin walked over with a relived look and clasped him on the shoulder, "Equalists are taken care of but Tenzin? Your wife went into Labor you better get in there." he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, making the Master Airbender's eyes widen before taking off so fast that he lived up to his title.

Turning back to the group, Korra was the first one to ask, "Where have you been?! We heard the ship you were on sank two days ago….you didn't-" she began with a hint of accusation in her voice.

"No! Why would…..no. It wasn't me." he clarified, a little offended that Korra would assume it was him behind it. He had thought of what to say on his way back to the city, Mera's warning about exposing Atlantis to the world…. "Apparently some Equalists planted bombs and set them to detonate on a timer. I got hurt and was out of it for a while." he lied.

Asami frowned, her shoulders slumping forward as she crossed her arms and looked away ashamed. Arno placed a hand on her shoulder, "No one got hurt. That's the important part." he said, knowing the Sato heiress would feel guilty that the Equalists probably would have used her father's technology to attack the ship. Asami offered him a small smile for his comfort, "So what about you guys? I'm gone a day and a half and the whole city goes to hell?" he asked, gesturing out to Republic City.

Mako grimaced at the sight, "The day after you left, Tarrlock arrested me, Bo and Asami on some trumped up charges. Korra confronted him about it and…." he looked at the Avatar.

Arno turned his head to Korra, the Watertribe girl crossing her arms over chest uncomfortably as the memories came back, "Tarrlock is…..was, a Blood Bender. Amon captured him and took his bending away. Naga found me and brought me back here and….well you saw." she said disappointedly as she looked at the state that the city was currently in. Just yesterday everything in the city was normal but within a few hours things had turned into a uprising that caught everyone off guard, herself included.

Arno was…..honestly on any other day that news would have surprised him to some degree but that was before a long talk with Mera not two hours ago. Before he could say anything in an attempt for comfort Korra, Meelo zoomed out of the house on an air scooter, "You guys! You guys! You Guys! The baby's here! The baby's here!" he exclaimed excitedly as he circled around the five of them and went back the way he came.

Arno and the others looked amongst themselves before fallowing Meelo, arriving at the room where Pema was taken for childbirth, Arno stood outside the room at the threshold, watching as his friends surrounded Pema and Tenzin on the bed along with their new son Rohan. As they celebrated the new addition to the Airbending family, Arno was in solemn thought, _I just lied right to their faces…..some of the only people up here who know me, who know what I am and I just lied to them…._ he thought sourly. _Would them knowing Atlantis was real really be the end of everything…well maybe not Mako or Bolin…..but Korra, maybe Asami…_

Korra was the Avatar, the bridge between the human and spirit world who played mediator with both world leaders and spirits. Her knowing about Atlantis could jeopardize all the Kingdoms of the Sea's safety, she could reveal it and everyone on the Surface could turn against them like they did Arno and unite to attack. But he trusted Korra, she had good judgement in only telling Tenzin about him and not Tarrlock after joining his Task Force, and maybe if he explained to them all that this could never be known they would keep it that way. But there was doubt, of course there was but even the slightest bit of it could mean people wound up paying for his mistake.

So for now, only he could know. He just found out he had a people, and he was their prince, even though he didn't have any clue what that entailed he couldn't jeopardize their safety.

After taking a few minutes for Pema to recover and the Air Acolytes to ready the Sky Bison, Arno was helping Pema and Rohan onto Oogi's back, carrying the both of them up the tail of the beast before setting them both gently down onto the saddle, "Thank you Arno, if you hadn't been here…" she began, shaking her head at the possibility as Rohan's barely open eyes looked up at him tiredly. The blonde smiled at the infant and held his finger out to the newborn infant who gripped it as tightly as it's small hands could and wrapped it's hand around his finger.

Arno smiled fondly at the baby, "I just wish I was here sooner Pema….but I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you guys all the way to the Air Temple. I'll double back here when you're all settled in." he said reassuringly, making the mother smile. Hopping off Oogi, he walked over to Korra and Tenzin as the Master put his hand on her shoulder. Noticing his approach, Tenzin nodded at him wit gratitude as Korra turned to address him. "You ok with me going?" he asked.

The Avtar nodded in agreement, "If Amon gets his hands on Tenzin or his family….there's too few Airbenders as is…..and I couldn't think of anyone better to protect them." she said with a smile as Tenzin went to join his family. She crossed her arms confidently, "But I'm not sure about you being however many miles up in the air, I thought you were only useful in water." she teased playfully.

Arno rolled his eyes at the Avatar's rib but smiled nonetheless as she held her hand up to him, "Hurry back ok? We're going to need all the help we can get when we go after Amon." she stated as Arno clasped her hand, both of them giving it a squeeze of reassurance before nodding. Tenzin informed them that he had sent a message to the United Forces to help retake the city but it would be three days until they arrived in port. Arno could make it to Republic City in half the time through the water, so going with Tenzin to the Southern Air Temple was their best move.

"Um, guys!" Bolin called out, the Avatar and Atlantean looked at the Earthbender and saw him pointing towards the city where a trio of airships was heading towards the island. "We better get going!" Bolin shouted as he ran to find his brother and Asami. Arno leapt over onto Oogi's back, making the sky bison groan under the extra weight's impact. Lin climbed up onto the saddle as well as Tenzin used Airbending to lift himself onto Oogi's head and whipping the reins while the remaining Acolytes took off on the other Sky Bison as they did.

Arno felt his stomach drop as they lifted up into the air, suddenly aware that he was one of the many people who had NEVER flown before. He grabbed onto the side of the saddle a little tightly for safety. The Sky Bison was surprisingly quick, they were out of the city limits within minutes and over the open ocean with two of the airships tailing them, _Question is which will give out first? The Bison's stamina or the Ships' fuel?_ Arno asked himself.

That question was promptly answered when harpoons fired out from one of the airships towards the bison, _Or they could harpoon us like a whale!_ Arno suddenly thought whilst drawing out his knife from it's sheathe, he had done this dozens of times before with actual whalers in the sea. With how dense his skin was the harpoon wouldn't pierce his skin so as the Harpoon came down he stepped between it and Oogi. The impact against his chest made him stumble back onto the saddle. Lin grabbed the harpoon and twisted the metal apart, making it useless.

Arno grabbed the rope and looked at Lon, "Hold down the fort." he said before looking over the edge of Oogi. There was water below them, so is this didn't work he would at least be ok. Still though he took a deep breath, _You got this, you got this, you-_ he thought to himself as he leapt from the side of Oogi and swung on the rope, _-don't got this!_ he thought in slight panic as his stomach dropped into his feet from the force of the swing.

The wind whipping through his hair, the Atlantean Prince swung up towards the side of the airship and whipped off at the end, flying towards the upper side of the aircraft's shell he brandished his Dagger and sunk it into the side of the hull to catch himself on. Letting out a small breath of relief he dug his hand into the metal and pulled himself up before jamming his knife into the metal above him. Climbing up the side of the Airship he finally reached the crest where he could stand up on. Twirling his dagger around to reverse he slammed it down into the metal and carved out a handhold to grab.

Gripping the metal with both hands he violently ripped it up from the hull and ran with it! Tearing away the top of the airship and releasing the hot air that kept it afloat. When he tore the metal from one end of the airship to the other, he turned his attention to the second one still flying after the Sky Bison. Taking a few steps back, he sprinted towards the ledge of the ship and launched himself across the distance between the aircraft.

Landing with a roll across the hull of the airship, he plunged his knife into the metal once again with the intent on repeating what he did. However as he began to carve, he heard a humming sound behind him, turning his head he was blasted in the back by twin beams of red electricity. Sliding across the top of the ship, Arno hissed at the burns on his back, looking up towards the attack's origin he saw none other than Manta walking out from a entrance into the airship, **"I got to admit I only went on the hunch you would stick with the Airbenders with how they let you hide on their island."** Manta stated mockingly as red smoke drifted out the eyes of his helmet, **"Like it? A few upgrades, Sato's got more ideas than I gave him credit for."** He boasted while he raised his forearm, a long blade popping out from his gauntlet.

Arno glanced down at the knife between them before rushing at Manta as he did the same, Manta swung the blade up from his side as they neared the knife but Arno sidestepped his attack, striking at Manta's side with one as his other reached under his arm and uppercutted Manta's helmet while locking his arm around his shoulder and throwing him down onto the hull of the ship as hard as he could before reaching for his knife.

Plucking the blade from the ship he spun on his heel and dropped down blade first towards Manta, Manta raised his forearms and blocked Arno's attack by bracing his arms against Arno's. Kicking Arno off him, Manta swung himself onto his knees and brandished his arm blade. Rushing at Arno he kneed the blonde in the chest while he slashed his blade at Arno's head, the edge sliced through a few strands of his golden hair.

His fist collided with the underside of Menta's helmet, slashing his blade again Arno ducked beneath the strike and retaliated with plunging the blade into Manta's side where the plates of his armor had a gap so he could move. Letting out a grunt of pain, the eyes of his mask began to glow red while a familiar humming noise coming from the back, Arno released his knife only for Manta to slash him across the chest as the humming died down. Manta pulled the knife from his side and threw it over the side of the airship. The blonde gritted his teeth at the loss of his only real possession, turning his attention to Manta however he clenched his fists as he charged.

As he reached Manta he slid on the side of his leg and kicked the other into the pirate's knee with the intent of shattering it, he simply dropped onto it before Arno swung his leg and kicked the side of Manta's helmet while spinning onto his feet. Ruining at Manta the pirate hoisted his arm up, shooting a harpoon out from his other gauntlet which ran an electrical current through it into Arno's body! The prince dropped onto his knees as he held in a agonizing scream from the pain. Manta stood up over the fallen prince, **"I have to admit Arno, this isn't as satisfying as I thought it would be."** he stated before his foot connected to Arno's ribs with enough force that made a sound similar to a crack. **"This is much better. Hiroshi helped me augment this suit so I can stand against you on equal footing, the strength, the firepower, the durability, we're even now."**

Manta reached down and grabbed a hand full of the blonde's hair as a yelp escaped the Atlantean's mouth, lifting his head up as he held his other hand out, the blade emerging from the gauntlet, **"I beat you, because I know you. I know how you think. So before I finally end you? I'm going to make you watch as Amon takes those Airbender's bending away."** he threatened, tilting his helm towards the bow of the Airship as the Sky Bison got closer within reach of the ship. Arno's eyes looked back to Manta with hatred in his eyes, **"There it is….that's the exact same look you had on your face when you killed my father….bet you wish you wish you got me instead."** he said lowly as his eyes once again glowed the humming from him resumed as well.

Arno looked between Manta and Oogi, he couldn't let them get to Tenzin, but with the pain from the harpoon's current just kept him- _Wait…back at the Arena….._ Arno thought as he remembered How Manta used the same device to pull himself back onto the glass dome. _Well here's hoping I weigh more than he does!_ Arno thought before using the last of his strength to hurl himself down the hull of the blimp as Manta's eye beams finished charging.

The red electricity cut into the hull of the ship as he was pulled off balance by Arno, the two dropped through the air towards the sea as the ship above turned towards back, there was better chance of surviving a crash near land than out in the middle of the sea. Arno smirked triumphantly as he watched the airship turn around as the Airbenders and Lin escaped from the Equalists.

Arno and Manta hit the water like stones. The harpoon's electrical current flared up violently before cutting out, yanking the weapon from his flesh, he didn't even have time to register Manta slam into him, taking the both of them deeper into the water. **"You think that'll stop me!? I told you before! I'll keep coming Arno! No matter what trick you manage to pull-"** the blade on his wrist stabbed into his shoulder, making Arno yell out in pain as he was pinned against the ocean floor. Manta's knee pinned against Arno's abdomen, the pirate's helm looming over him with the red eyes casting a glow over Arno's face before headbutting the blonde.

The blood drifted up through the water around Manta as Arno grabbed the blade and tried to pull it out, only for Manta to lean more weight down onto him, the blade sinking deeper into him and making the pain skyrocket! _I can't grab the blade! AGH! Come on Arno think! Think!_ he thought, his eyes darting around for something to use against Manta, a piece of coral, driftwood, anything! But there was nothing, the only thing he could see were the Whale Sharks circling the above them, Arno's blood attracting the predators to the both of them.

 _I can't-I can't do anything! There's nothing I…..I need….._

 ** _HELP._**

With that thought it was like a shockwave went through the water, it felt like he was releasing a gasp of air out and it traveled for miles through the water And Arno could feel….everything, he could feel the octopi miles away skimming the floor of the sea in search of food, he felt a school of swordfish on the hunt for their prey, he felt creatures he's never seen before. It was like his mind had burst apart, like something finally clicked into place for him.

One of the Whale Sharks turned down towards the pair, it's massive form blocking out the sun shining through the water. Manta didn't notice, the rent tint of his helmet lenses made the sudden shade unrecognizable as he just leaned more into Arno. It was only when he saw Arno's eyes widen with their gaze trained behind him that Mana turned to see the Whale Shark's huge open mouth rushing towards him, **"WHAT THE FUC-"** before he explicative could be finished the Shark swooped down along the ocean floor and swallowed Manta in a single bite, pulling the blade out from Arno in the process as the Blonde watched the predator circle back.

Holding up his hand as a meager sign of defense, Arno braced for the same fate as Manta, **_Stop._ **he thought, causing the animal to stop dead in the water right before him. Arno stared at the shark is disbelief, shutting his eyes he tried doing that again, **_Leave?_**it came out as a question but the creature fallowed it like a order and turned around, swimming away from the wounded blonde. Holding the gut wound he stood upright as he watched the shark leave, _It…it did what I wanted…..wait my headache…..it's gone!_ he realized, the soreness that perforated his mind for years now was suddenly gone, it was like the sun finally shining through the clouds and he could finally think clearly.

But more than that he could….sense better, he could feel the school of fish approaching him from a few feet away. Looking at the dozen or so small fish he tried what he done before. **_Up. _**he thought, another pulse emanating from him which the Fish obeyed, all of them suddenly turning upwards towards the surface of the water, **_Down. _**he commanded with more force. The fish immediately dived down towards him, ** _ Move Along. _**the fish resumed on their course away, past Arno as he rose up towards the surface of the water.

 _I can…..control fish….with my mind…..ok._ he thought acceptingly. _Atlantis is real, I'm a prince, and I can control the will of fish with my mind alone, yeah why the hell not? Just wait, Manta will….have been, my uncle or something._ he thought with biting sarcasm. However a thought crossed his mind which caused a grin to spread across his face, if he could control sea life…..that meant ANY sea life. And he had just the creature in mind that could help with the Equalists.

* * *

 **AN: Ahem…so- (gets fire, earth, water spikes, and spears lodged at me.) OK OK. Look, I am late…..I'm not going to make excses, I got caught up in my Spider-Man story that this got pushed to the wayside….in fact this has been done for a while…..but it originally was going to be longer…..much longer…like WAY TO DAMN LONG longer. So I decided to split this chapter up into two parts. Thankfully because of that I have a decent start on the next one, which I shall be working on from now on for the foreseeable future in my free time.**

 **A lot has happened with the Aquaman…wait…..hold on a sec….**

 **….huh….wow so a quick internet search and it turns out they took a real left turn with him after Drowned Earth…..but he's back now, so…good.**

 **So anyway working on the last chapter and then I'll start working on a in between the books chapter after that and then probably back to the Spider-Man/RWBY crossover.**

 **I'm also drawing out Atlantis…not literally but worldbuilding wise. I got the early history written out, I'm working on the class system, it's a whole thing. Anyway, see you guys soon…..promise.**


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